Terry Friel – Indonesian President General Prabowo Subianto – accused of war crimes – has officially declared his former father-in-law, Suharto, a national hero.

It is a move that has sparked controversy and unnecessarily reopened wounds in a country that has more than enough problems at the moment.

Last week, around 100 people gathered in Jakarta to protest Suharto's nomination, while nearly 16,000 have signed an online petition asking the same.

That is a tiny response and does not reflect the heated anger on social media.

Suharto's legacy, unlike the 74-year-old Prabowo's, is mixed and murky. Prabowo has achieved little more than free meals for school children.

Suharto, who like many Indonesians used only one name, did make some life-changing improvements for ordinary people.

As the only Australian journalist allowed into the country in the early 90s, I witnessed Pak Harto (Father Suharto) at his height. In East Timor, I also saw Prabowo at his worst.

I was called back by Reuters in 1998 to report on Suharto's violent downfall and watched the chaos of people – many Christian Chinese – being killed in rioting fueled by the Suharto family and their military.

I stayed on through another three years of failed governments and civil chaos.

Suharto did great things. And also things that would today be described as war crimes, such as the invasion of East Timor, now the independent nation of Timor-Leste, and widespread human rights abuses from fiercely Muslim and independence-driven Aceh in the far northwest to strongly Christian West Papua in the far east.

But he consolidated a national language across 700 dialects over more than 17,000 islands and a population now approaching 300 million.

General Suharto also oversaw the mass killing of up to one million "communists" – basically, anyone he considered a political opponent – mostly ethnic Chinese, after his rise to power in 1965, when he led the military to crush an alleged communist coup attempt.

Pak Harto's Orwellian "New Order" did deliver dramatic economic growth over several decades, lifting millions out of poverty.

His "roads and bridges" policy built vitally needed infrastructure, which helped ordinary people and businesses, and investment.

But the cost was high.

The national hero award is an annual affair, meant to honor individuals for their contributions to the country.

On Nov. 10, the late Suharto was among 10 new names added to the list, in a ceremony presided over by Prabowo.

But under Suharto, dissent, free speech, and thought were crushed. So was the media. I was allowed in under a government-to-government deal that also allowed a journalist from Indonesia's national news agency Antara into Australia.

But I was so tightly monitored and tapped that someone from the security forces once phoned me to ask how to spell the name of the person I had just interviewed by phone.

Under Suharto, opposition was not tolerated.

Which meant that when he fell, there was no one capable of leading the country.

He was succeeded by some good, but grossly incompetent, people in years of instability.

These included Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of the country's first president, Soekarno.

And Gus Dur – Abdhurrahman Wahid – a beloved and affable Islamic cleric who loved to spend hours chatting with visitors.

So, now we have another strongman: Pak Harto's son-in-law, in charge of the most important nation and biggest economy in Southeast Asia and the most populous Muslim country on Earth.

General Prabowo is accused of atrocities during his command of special forces in East Timor in the 1980s and 1990s.

Like his father-in-law, he crushes all dissent.

But unlike his father-in-law, Prabowo cannot control the media, especially in the age of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook and social media.

To call Suharto a national hero is a slap in the face for those who suffered and died under his autocratic rule.

Prabowo thinks and acts like his father-in-law in the age of social media. But the world has changed.

Many Indonesians have taken to the web in anger.

Suharto, who died 17 years ago in disgrace, deserves to be recognized for his achievements. And judged for his crimes.

He is no national hero.

Nor is his son-in-law.

[Terry Friel was, for a time, the only Australian journalist allowed into Indonesia when even temporary visits were banned. He lived there for seven years, on separate postings for Australian Associated Press and Reuters, under Suharto and through the bloody violence and riots during Suharto's downfall in 1998 and the turmoil that followed. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.]

Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesias-suharto-was-no-hero/11096