Indonesia: Is a government attempting to rob a country of its history?
Hiding the historical rupture.
On June 23, 2025, the Editorial Board of Indonesia’s premier English language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, published a sharp criticism of Minister of Culture, Fadli Zon, “deploring his dismissive statements” regarding rapes and sexual violence during rioting in May, 1998, seemingly orchestrated to discredit the process that was unfolding and forcing President Suharto to resign from the Presidency. According to this Editorial Board criticisms: “a draft program circulating among academics selectively omits key human rights violations recognized by the state, including the enforced disappearances of pro-democracy activists in 1997 and 1998. Reports indicate it includes only two of 12 recognized atrocities that occurred between 1965 and 2003.” Their commentary continued later: “A nation that deliberately chooses to forget or distort its historical past, particularly its darker chapters, risks repeating the very mistakes and atrocities it seeks to bury.”
These are very serious concerns that the Editorial Board expresses. The issues, however, go deeper still and are connected with the transformations that have occurred during Indonesia’s brief history. Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta proclaimed Independence on August 17, 1945. After almost five years of war and at least 100,000 Indonesians dead, The Netherlands signed a Transfer of Sovereignty to Indonesia on December 27, 1949. The next lasted from then until 30th September, 1965. That fifteen years was consumed by a great struggle over the direction of independent Indonesia’s political, cultural and economic development: towards a Third World socialism, by 1965 mainly inspired by the People’s Republic of China, or integration into the global economy, dominated by the United States and Western Europe. This stage ended with the overthrow of President Sukarno, who favoured a socialist direction, and the coming to power of General Suharto in a military backed regime, the New Order, which pursued integration into the global economy on western terms. The establishment of the new government was accompanied by the banning of the whole of the Indonesian left-wing, and the mass killings of probably one million people. The New Order lasted 32 years and created the basic contours of what is Indonesia today.
However, by 1974, a 25 year long process of opposition began with a wave of student demonstrations. More occurred in 1978, and then after twelve years of relative quiet, re-emerged again in 1989. By 1996, protests were mobilising tens of thousands. In 1997-98, hundreds of thousands of people were protesting, culminating in demonstrators occupying the Indonesian parliament. During later 1997 and into 1998, the military was used to disperse student demonstrations. At the same time, activists began to be unofficially detained. Some later reported being tortured. At least 14, never reappeared, presumed murdered. The officers in charge of most of these kidnappings were officers under a formal command structure, headed by Major General, and then in March, 1998 Lieutenant General, Prabowo Subianto, now Indonesian President. Between May 12-15, riots also broke out, during which time the rapes of Chinese women took place, as documented by the official Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF). The TGPF also found evidence of organised incitement of this violence, with possible links to the military. However, no criminal proceedings were ever pursued.
Of course, much else occurred during the 32 years before mass protests forced Suharto to resign and be replaced by the technocratic Vice-President Habibie. The fall of Suharto began the current phase of Indonesia history usually called Reformasi (Reformation). This was conceived by the movement for change at the time as being much more than just some reforms, although not a revolution.
However, very crucially, it was seen as a rupture, a clear break, from the New Order.
The current furore in Indonesia regarding the government producing a new history is generated by a concern about negating the rupture and re-establishing continuity with the Suharto period. President Prabowo Subianto, who was commander of the Strategic Army Command (Kostrad) from March 1998, had been committed to preserving that continuity back then. From 1996, under Suharto, Zon has been a leader of the official Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI). After some time as a researcher, academic, businessman and politician, in 2008, Fadli Zon co-founded the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), formed as a political vehicle for Prabowo Subianto. Both President Prabowo and Minister Zon represent continuity, rather than rupture, with the New Order and no doubt view Indonesian history through lenses created by their experience and role.
The process of opposition to the New Order evolved over almost a quarter of century, between 1974 and ending in 1998. The opposition activists, intellectuals and artists during those 25 years, including some of its greatest such as Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Wiji Thukul and W.S Rendra, but many others also, have produced a huge body of writings which convey a history of Indonesia marked by repression, opposition and change. After the fall of Suharto and much greater political freedom, there have been reports of state funded institutions such as the National Commission of Human Rights and the National Commission of Violence Against Women. There has been new work done by academic historians as well as new popular publications such as Historia magazine, founded in 2010. All these reflect a discussion of history that recognises rupture with the past.
Two historical perspectives are in conflict with each other. One is represented by the Minister of Culture and his supporters, and the other by a strong coalition of historians, activists and citizens, including the Editorial Board of The Jakarta Post. The largest formal coalition of critics is the Indonesian History Openness Alliance (AKSI), whose members include a former Attorney General as well as senior academics. On May 19, AKSI presented its criticisms and its opposition to any state authorised history to a parliamentary commission. At that hearing, Bonnie Triyana, founding editor of Historia magazine and of the anti-colonial Multatuli Museum in Banten, and now a member of Parliament representing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), supported AKSI’s general stance. Another broad civil society coalition opposed to the official history project is Civil Society Coalition Against Impunity, led by prominent women intellectuals such as Ita Fatia Nadia and Galuh Wandita.
In fact, there is nothing unusual about the existence of conflicting interpretations of history within any country. What has agitated some is the prospect of an officially state authorised history which negates the rupture with the New Order that occurred in 1998: a rupture was the product of 25 years of maturation of an opposition. Any negation of that rupture can be seen as rubbing out that whole 25 years of dissent which actually paved the way for reformasi. It could be seen as a government attempt to rob a country of its history.
This article was first published on July 1 in Chinese here: https://www.zaobao.com.sg/forum/views/story20250701-7029101?gift=d84b679f-5b67-4be5-91f3-072a65d3b60b