Jakarta – Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has asked teachers to inform students about the country's "dark" history relating to the long-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). He warned about the "latent danger" of the revival of communism in Indonesia.
On Saturday, Prabowo was expected to attend a book discussion about the G30S/1965, a failed coup on Sept. 30, 1965, that was blamed on the PKI and the communist movement.
It turned out that the former Army general could not attend the event. However, Probowo had prepared a speech, which was read out by Indonesian Defense University rector Lt. Gen. Tri Legionosuko on behalf of the minister.
"I hope history teachers at schools tell the students about the true history of the PKI's uprising and cruelty," Tri said while reading out Prabowo's speech, kompas.com reported.
According to the speech, the minister wanted schoolchildren in the country to understand the history of the PKI and the failed coup attempt, as well as the repercussions that followed.
In his speech, Prabowo also wrote about how the public should remain vigilant about the "latent danger of communism", as he warned that communist ideology might still be alive in Indonesia.
"Communism has left a dark stain on Indonesia's history," Tri read. Prabowo said that the PKI had continued to seek opportunities to stage coups in the country.
After the G30S, which was followed by a months-long communist purge that saw the killing of PKI members and sympathizers across the country, the government disbanded the PKI and banned communism as a movement and political ideology.
Although it has been listed as one of the major human rights violations of Indonesia's history, the 1965 massacre remains a sensitive topic in the country. Authorities often ban discussions of the topic and conduct raids to seize books about communism or anything deemed to provide an alternate narrative about the tragedy.
Saturday was hardly the first time a defense minister pushed the narrative that the PKI still represented a latent threat in the country. Prabowo's predecessor Ryamizard Ryacudu, a former Army chief of staff, used to warn about PKI's plan to seek revenge after its defeat in 1965.
A spokesperson for Prabowo, Dahnil Anzar, said on Sunday that the minister did not write the speech and that he did not have any knowledge of its content.
"Pak Prabowo did not know about the speech's content. He was not consulted," Dahnil said as quoted by tempo.co. He did not give details about who wrote the speech and if or why Prabowo had approved it. (gis)