Governments Do Not Determine History

11 hours ago 3

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Prabowo administration is rewriting the official history of Indonesia. It will be selective and will obscure many of the dark events of the New Order.

PERHAPS President Prabowo Subianto is making use of Winston Churchill’s popular quote: history is written by the victors. Established after winning last year’s presidential election, the Prabowo administration is rewriting the ‘official history’ of Indonesia. As if it is chasing a target, this rewriting of history that should be so important for this nation is being done as if it were a rush job.

The Culture Ministry led by Fadli Zon, an old acquaintance of Prabowo, is carrying out the project. The target is to produce a 10-volume history written by historians from various universities. The government claims the primary aim of the project is to “write an official history with a nationalist orientation.” Unfortunately, judging by the initial documents produced by the project, it will be selective regarding important events in the history of this republic.

For example, there is no explanation of the 1998 student movement or the wave of protests in 1966, and there is only a passing mention of the 1965 tragedy. The document now in circulation also classifies victims of human rights abuses as a “security disturbance.” The crimes of the New Order regime, which provided support for the 32 years of Suharto’s rule, Prabowo’s former father-in-law, are nowhere to be found in this official history book project. But there is a special chapter on the ‘successes’ of the government of Joko Widodo, Prabowo’s predecessor, who he acknowledges had a major role in his presidential election victory.

And the team of writers is working secretly and quickly. There is no public involvement in the process, despite the importance of this for providing a range of interpretations of events. And the involvement of people involved in the historical events could also produce a solid and credible foundation for the writing.

The writing of history is clearly not simply an academic formality, but an endeavor to develop a dominant ideology. The government fully understands that whoever controls history also controls the future. Removing or minimizing incidents like the 1998 Reformasi and the student movement are systemic measures to change the way future generations see the past, with the ultimate aim that they only know one version of ‘the truth’ that is in line with current political interests.

The way the Prabowo administration is writing this ‘official history’ is a backward step. The history detailed in the draft is incomplete and even tends to distort the facts. The public needs to write a ‘counter-history’ that is more complete, uncovers historical events that have been deliberately sidelined and presents facts that have been intentionally concealed.

Writing this counter-story will not be easy, but it is important that it is done. If we do not write and distribute a version of history that is more complete and objective, future generations will be trapped in a narrative that is not in accordance with the facts. They will inherit distorted memories.

We cannot rely on the government to produce a history that is fair and comprehensive. Therefore, we must uncover alternative sources, improve archives, document witness accounts and rewrite our history ourselves. Political memory is a long game. Those able to produce a better narrative, with stronger and more honest evidence, are the people who will win this game. It is now easier to access information, and technology makes it possible for the people to distribute a counter-history to every corner of the nation.

A fair history must include incidents like the tragedies of 1965, Tanjung Priok in 1984, Talangsari in 1989, the mysterious shootings in Jakarta in the 1980s, the violence in Aceh, East Timor and Papua, the 1998 May tragedy and the forced disappearances leading up to the fall of the New Order. However dark history is, it must still be written even though it has an impact on human tragedy and reveals past mistakes in state policy.

Narrative combat is a long-term game. It is not won by power alone, but also by persistence.

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