History, Memory, and the "1965 Incident" in Indonesia (original) (raw)

With the events of 1998 that climaxed in the stunning moment of President Suharto's resignation, Indonesia embarked on a transition from a tenacious authoritarianism. These changes have prompted reexamination of assumptions and tenets that have shaped the state, its laws and institutions, and the experience of being a citizen. They have also spurred calls for justice and retribution for persistent patterns of violence. Suharto's New Order is the only government that most Indonesians alive today have ever known, and its passing has sparked notable interest in reviewing and assessing earlier chapters in the national story. This retrospective moment has not been systematic, and there are indications that it may not be sustained under the administration of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. 1 Nonetheless, public discourse continues to spotlight key actors and events from the past, including some that have long been hidden, suppressed, or unmentionable. Among these topics, the killings of 1965-66 are a particularly difficult and dark subject. In this essay, I will discuss some of the recent representations of this particular element of the collective past and offer some thoughts on how "1965" figures in contemporary public discourse, in social and private