The 1965 Tragedy and the PKI Rebellion in Madiun in 1948?
Attempts to link the 1965 incident - some call it Tragedy 65 - with the so-called Madiun incident in 1948, described by two historians as "ahistorical and not contextual", and as a "justification for the murder" of those accused of being communists in 1965. .
LIPI historian, Asvi Warman Adam, said that the correlation of the two events 17 years apart seemed to think "what happened was just an act of revenge between communist and Islamic groups".
In fact, "the role of the military is no less important" in these two events.
However, the Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), Agus Widjojo, believes the two things should be linked.
Because, if it is not related to the 1948 Incident, "we can suspect that it is an attempt to eliminate the traces".
Meanwhile, a young Nahdlatul Ulama activist admitted that the memory of the killing of kiai and santri in the PKI rebellion in Madiun in 1948 had "created a phobia and made Islamic groups easy to fall prey to anti-communist hoaxes when Incident 65 occurred".
Farida Masrurin, the son of the "executioner" who was involved in an operation to hunt down PKI leaders and sympathizers in Blitar in 1968, revealed the reason why his father committed these atrocities.
"The father's story contained information, 'This is the one who wants to kill the kiai'. , that's also from the army," said Farida to BBC News Indonesia, Thursday (30/09). You may feel proud [killing people accused of the PKI] is part of jihad and protecting the country," said Farida.
'Justification for murder'
Fifty-six years after Incident 65, the completion of the humanitarian tragedy, which claimed at least 500,000 lives and left tens of thousands of people detained without trial, is on its way.
Recently, there have been attempts by a number of parties to link Tragedy 65 with the PKI rebellion in Madiun a dozen years earlier, which killed many ulama and santri figures.
However, historian from the National University in Jakarta, Andi Achdian, said the comparison was "uncontextual and ahistorical".
"I think the comparison is ahistorical, so the context is different. The first is the context of the revolution in the formation of a new state and the second is related to the consolidation of a new state in which there is internal political competition," Andi explained to BBC News Indonesia, Thursday (30/09). "There are indeed studies that say there was violence against kiai and so on. It cannot be denied, and I think the problem is more about justifying the acts of violence in 1965," said Andi.
Asvi Warman Adam, a historian from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) expressed a similar opinion.
"The Madiun incident in 1948 was used as an excuse, because in that incident several kiai were killed, it was used as an excuse to justify the killings committed against PKI people or accused by the PKI in 1965," Asvi said. linking the Madiun incident with the 65 incident seems to make this case limited to the issue of conflict between Islamic groups and communists.
"In fact, in Incident 65 which is no less important is the role of the army, the role of the military," he said.
However, the Governor of Lemhanas Agus Widjojo insisted that the two events must be linked.
"In fact, if it is not tied to 48, then we can suspect that it is an attempt to eliminate traces."
"In fact, we know that on October 1 [1965] the bodies of Army officers were found in Lubang Buaya. And earlier, way back in 1948, they carried out a rebellion against the legitimate government by 'stabbing' the struggle of the Indonesian people from behind.
"And they committed mass killings, gross human rights violations," explained Agus. What happened in Incident 48?
Andi revealed that political competition between left and right forces became the forerunner of the PKI rebellion in Madiun in September 1948.
"Amir Sjarifuddin who is left as prime minister is demanded to step down and hand over power to [Muhammad] Hatta."
Amir Sjarifuddin's Cabinet stepped down and was replaced by the Hatta Cabinet due to the agreement in the Renville Agreement - which was signed by Amir Sjarifuddin - which made Indonesia's territory shrink.
As a result of the agreement, the Dutch only recognized Central Java, Yogyakarta and Sumatra as Indonesian territory.
Amir then formed the Indonesian Democratic Front (FDR) which was then affiliated with the PKI, the Indonesian Farmers Front (BTI). As for, Andi said, the communist group at that time did not yet have as big a power as it did in 1965. At that time, communist organizations were small groups. and not well organized.
"That's when Muso came and wanted to improve the power of the communists at that time in Indonesia," he said.
To spread his ideas, Musso and Amir and other leftist groups planned to control strategic areas in Central and East Java, namely Solo, Madiun, Kediri, Jombang, Bojonegoro, Cepu, Purwodadi, and Wonosobo.
Many people died in the rebellion, including ulama and santri figures, as well as the governor of East Java at the time, Ario Soerjo.
However, Andi explained that this was not the only thing that triggered Event 48.He said the conflict between the communists and the Islamic Masjumi group at that time had created tension between the two.
"There were many factors, besides the element of competition between the military forces at that time, Siliwangi who was moving to Central Java," said Andi.
Asvi Warman Adam from LIPI added that internal intrigue in the army occurred when the government's plan to implement a restructuring-rationalization policy received different responses from the military and the people's army.
"When the government only has limited funds, of course they have to be selected which one becomes the Indonesian national army, which one cannot be accommodated."