Violence in the anti-communist tragedy in West Sumatra (original) (raw)

In this thesis, I examine the experiences of people in West Sumatra during the 1965-1966 events and their aftermaths, by focusing on the experiences of both women and men. I argue that it was not only the propaganda or the political sitxiation of 1965 which played important roles in violence actions on the members of Partai Komunis Indonesia, (PKJ, the Indonesian Communist Party), and the members of its related mass organizations, but it was caused more by the complexity of political and social situations which had occurred before 1965, especially in West Sumatra. This thesis develops the approach designed by Robert Cribb which emphasizes four factors; the military complexities in investigating the events, extreme political tension at national events, local political and social tensions, and a more general culture of violence permeating Indonesian society. I argue that the combination of military agency and political tension at national and local political levels as well as social tensions before the killings of 1965-1966 were instrumental in what happened in West Sumatra and a culture of violence involving preman (tukang pukul, or thugs) had also had considerable impact on violence against women and men in this province. ' Interview with ZB, conducted in Pariaman on 13 January 2003.1 use initials for all informants who were victims or who have some relation to the PKI or PKI-related organization, as well as for some informant who had no connection with the PKI but who asked me not to include their names in this sub-thesis. 1 kidnapped from their homes and killed at Lubang Buaya on the southern outskirts of the city. The military newspaper Sento Yudha reported on 5 October 1965 that, sukarelawati-sukarelawati Gerwani dan PR [Pemuda rakyat] beraksi. Mereka yang sudah kehilangan sifatsifat kemanusiaannya itu menusuk-nusukan pisau ke tubuh para korban. Bahkan para korban yang sudah tak berpakaian itu dipotong kemaluanrtya dengan silet dan dimasukkan ke mulut Women volunteers from Gerwani and PR [Pemuda Rakyat] took action. Those who had lost their humanity stabbed the victims with knives. The victims' clothes were even taken off and their penises were cut off with razor blades and placed in their mouths.^ Such stories as this were accompanied by statements from religious leaders that members of the PKI did not believe in God, thus spreading suspicion and hatred of communists. Violence towards PKI members as the consequence of their political allegiance spread rapidly throughout Indonesia.^ Cribb estimates that there were between 150,000-1.000.000 victims throughout Indonesia.'* Robinson, who carried out his research in Bali, estimated that about 5 percent of the population of under 2 million Balinese (100,000 people) were killed by the army and civilians^. As for West Sumatra, there are no official reports or academic estimations of the number of casualties. However, a number of records from an NGO carrying out research on the 1965/1966 violence and interviews I have conducted show that the number of victims who survived and experienced the violence outnumbered those who were murdered. The survivors of the violence were often detained with different classifications based on their involvement with the PKI (as were other victims