Indonesian government's push to write official history slammed as 'authoritarian'
Read in Bahasa Indonesia
Scholars have criticised an ambitious project by the Indonesian government to write an official national history, arguing a draft version omits key events, including some that involve President Prabowo Subianto when he was a special forces commander.
Culture Minister Fadli Zon, a longtime loyalist of Mr Prabowo, has described the books as an "updated version" of the national story intended to become "the official Indonesian history".
He said the project was necessary to incorporate new discoveries such as cave paintings on the island of Sulawesi that are at least 51,000 years old.
It would also address misconceptions about Indonesia's colonial history, Mr Zon said, clarifying that not all regions were under Dutch rule for 350 years, as is commonly believed.
Indonesia's Ministry of Culture said the official history was urgently required to establish a strong national identity, "eliminate colonial bias", and address contemporary challenges.
Mr Zon described it as "a gift" to the Indonesian people to celebrate the country's 80th Independence Day on August 17.
A group of academics and human rights activists last week visited parliament to express their opposition to a working draft that had circulated among journalists and historians.
Former Indonesian attorney-general and human rights lawyer Marzuki Darusman argued the idea of one "official history" was problematic and gave the government the final say on all historical matters.
"Who gives the government the right to take control and declare the final word on our identity?" he asked.
Allowing the government to dictate history through a single perspective could pave the way for authoritarian control, Mr Darusman warned.
Under the New Order dictatorship of Suharto, who was Mr Prabowo's father-in-law, there was an official history book used as the sole source of history education in schools until his regime collapsed in 1998.
Senior historian Asvi Warman Adam said a civil society alliance — consisting of academics, activists, and historians — had reviewed the 2025 draft and concluded that it represented "historical manipulation".
"Historical manipulation occurs when history is written to selectively highlight what benefits a regime," Dr Adam said.
The ABC independently reviewed the draft history and identified notable omissions compared to the 2018 edition of Indonesia's high school history textbook.
The government's account leaves out major events in Indonesia's contemporary history, such as the 1997 financial crisis, anti-Suharto protests and deadly crackdowns against them by his regime, anti-Chinese riots, and the eventual fall of Suharto's regime.
At that time, Mr Prabowo was a powerful general and has since been dogged by accusations of human rights abuses and war crimes.
He was stood down by the Indonesian military later in 1998 for his alleged role in the forced disappearances of democracy activists during that year.
Other important historical events such as the 1928 Women's Congress, a landmark event for Indonesia's feminist movement, and the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung that united many countries from the global south, were absent.
Dr Adam said these omissions indicated an attempt to shape history to serve political interests rather than presenting an objective and comprehensive account of Indonesian history.
Bonnie Triyana, a historian and member of parliament for the opposition Democratic Party of Struggle, agreed that major events including human rights violations were missing from the new official history.
He said a project of this scale should undergo public scrutiny and an open process involving a wide range of historians and academics, rather than being a government-commissioned effort.
Mr Triyana told the ABC that an apparent rush to meet the deadline by August 17 meant the process had lacked transparency.
In a meeting with the Ministry of Culture, Mr Triyana urged it not to classify the revised history as "official history" — arguing that would turn history into something that could not be criticised or corrected.
The Ministry of Culture's director of history and museums, Agus Mulyana, told a forum in Jakarta last week that those opposing the national history project were "radical".
"Lately, we have been confronted with narratives responding to the rewriting of Indonesia's history. The reactions come from those who … are radical," he said.
"A group that came to the parliament said this project would cleanse past sins. I think this perspective can be considered a perversion. A historical perversion — misguided."
Mr Zon, the culture minister, told parliament that Professor Mulyana's comments did not represent the ministry's official view.
But he denied allegations of historical manipulation by choosing to highlight certain historical events.
He said the revision process had already involved 113 historians and archaeologists from across Indonesia and there would be time for public feedback before the book was launched.
Yet, the ABC understands that internal disagreements within the research team resulted in the resignation of at least two professors.
One of them left after being asked to write about president Joko Widodo and Indonesia's new capital city, despite his expertise being in colonial economic history.
"I was asked to write about Joko Widodo's period, but I declined because it is not my area of expertise," he said.
"I have never researched it, it's too contemporary and the data is still unclear."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Prabowo snubbed the G7 to meet Putin. Is Indonesia moving away from the West?
The decision by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to skip the G7 meeting in Canada and to visit Russia has raised eyebrows in Western capitals. The official reason provided was that his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was pre-planned. Prabowo, being a man of his word, had decided to skip the G7 meeting of wealthy liberal democracies in favour of attending the little-known St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Known as Russia's Davos, the forum is where Russia — facing crippling Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine — seeks to attract foreign investment and showcase the best of its business and technology. Prabowo was invited as the Kremlin's guest of honour. "It's possible that he wasn't fully aware of the optics," said Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Gatra Priyandita. "But at the same time, I can also sort of imagine him thinking this might incentivise the West to try harder." Prabowo's decision came after reports earlier this year that Moscow was lobbying Jakarta to house long-range bombers in Indonesia's Papua province, causing anxiety in Australian foreign policy and defence circles. During a meeting with Putin this week, the the pair inked a strategic partnership. Indonesia and Russia's respective sovereign wealth funds signed an agreement worth 2 billion euros ($3.5 billion). Putin was praised for supporting Indonesia's bid to become a full member of BRICS — the 16-member grouping of non-Western nations founded by Russia along with China, India, Brazil and South Africa. Prabowo revelled in the fact that his Foreign Minister Sugiono, who goes by one name, had visited Russia three times within just eight months. "Russia is clever in giving attention to Prabowo," said Radityo Dharmaputra, head of the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies at Airlangga University in Indonesia. "It's not about the forum, but his personal relations with Putin … his willingness to meet with this so called great man in the in the global arena." Prabowo's Culture Minister Fadli Zon has previously gone as far as declaring his boss Indonesia's Putin. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs of 32 per cent against Indonesian goods have burned goodwill in Jakarta. "Increasingly, there is some degree of disillusionment about the United States and the future of US power," Dr Priyandita said. Mr Dharmaputra said Russia was stepping up its engagement at a time when the US and some European countries had cut their funding for several programs in Indonesia. "Other countries are struggling to compete with Russia and China in that regard," he said. Still, Prabowo's Russia trip should hardly be interpreted as a full-scale rejection of Indonesia's partnerships in the West. Since its creation as a nation, Indonesia has practised "free and active" foreign policy — meaning it is non-aligned to either the West or the West's adversaries. Prabowo is no exception. That was shown by the warmth of Anthony Albanese's visit to Jakarta last month after the Australian prime minister won re-election. As was the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles to Jakarta earlier this month. French President Emmanuel Macron also visited Jakarta to great fanfare only a few weeks ago. Analysts say Jakarta's ties to the US and Australia on a range of fronts remain much stronger than those with Moscow. Russia had never been a reliable investment partner for Indonesia, said Mr Dharmaputra. For example, Russia withdrew as an investor from the Borneo railway project in 2022 — which had been billed as an "historic milestone" for a Russian-backed initiative in the country. While Indonesia may purchase some arms from Russia, economic ties are lacklustre. Last year, China was the third largest foreign investor in Indonesia and the US was the fourth. Prabowo's decision to dodge the G7 may in fact have been partly motivated by domestic political factors, Dr Priyandita said. Indonesia, like most of South-East Asia, is out of step with Western powers in relation to Israel, its war in Gaza and attacks on Iran. The G7 leaders' statement affirmed Israel's "right to defend itself" and declared Iran was the "principle source of regional instability and terror". Being seen to buy into that narrative in Indonesia — a Muslim-majority country that has never recognised Israel and where public support for the Palestinian cause is immense — could be politically disastrous. Prabowo only recently attracted criticism for comments he made during Macron's visit, indicating that Indonesia might establish diplomatic relations with Israel if Israel recognised a Palestinian state. So, the visit to St Petersburg may have been motivated more by Putin's flattery and avoiding headaches at home than a pointed snub of the West. Prabowo has declared his foreign policy philosophy is "one thousand friends and zero enemies". His visit to Russia is a timely reminder that Indonesia, the largest economy in South-East Asia, does indeed have many friends.
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- SBS Australia
TThe latest news SBS Audio Indonesian Program
Listen to SBS Indonesian every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 3 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to our podcasts .
ABC News
12-06-2025
- ABC News
Diplomatic vacuum created by Trump in the Pacific could open the door for Indonesia to succeed in bringing PNG under ASEAN's wing
Not for the first time Indonesia is pushing for Papua New Guinea to be admitted into ASEAN, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, a move which President Prabowo Subianto says would solidify the group's role on the world stage. PNG first attended an ASEAN meeting as an observer as long ago as 1976, but the fact that the country is actually not in Asia has been, and continues to be, a major stumbling block to Indonesia's ambitions. However with the Trump administration in the United States stepping back from aid and international development in the Pacific, there are major changes happening to the regional diplomatic order. Dr Scott MacWilliam, who has a long-standing connection with Papua New Guinea, and has been researching and writing about the Pacific for more than 40 years says Indonesia has its eye on PNG for more reasons than one, and he believes that Washington has created a political vacuum which could well play into Jakarta's hands.
