Muhammad Abdus Syakur – The discourse about or proposal that the film on the September 30 Movement-Indonesian Communist Party (G30S/PKI) rebellion be shown again and broadcast nationally on television each year has surfaced once again.
As is widely known, the film depicts the tragic abduction of six army generals and one junior officer by rebels from the PKI that took place on the night of September 30 and October 1, 1965.
Gerindra Party deputy chairperson and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Fadli Zon says that he agrees with the proposal to show the film again.
“I absolutely agree”, Zon tweeted on Monday September 11 via his official Twitter account.
Zon claims that the film presents many historical truths about the PKI rebellion. “As a historian I believe that there are many historical truths recorded in the film”, said Zon.
Zon also asserted the truth of the PKI’s brutality in carrying out the rebellion against the government of the time. “The PKI launched a rebellion that was full of cruelty and brutality”, he said on one of his Twitter accounts @fadlizon.
As has been reported, in lead up to this year’s anniversary of September 30, a discourse about and proposal that the G30S/PKI film be shown again has resurfaced, particularly among social media users.
Some netizens believe that the film needs to be shown again nationally in order to remind the Indonesian people of the history of the PKI rebellion.
“The G30S-PKI rebellion, please show it again @TVRINasional [the state owned television station]”, tweeted @rizarahmadhani1 yesterday.
Re-showing the G30S/PKI film is also seen as continuing to strengthen the government in its efforts as cited by President Joko Widodo who recently called on the military to “clobber the PKI” [See Jokowi: Anti-Pancasila and communist groups, we’ll clobber them, stamp them out]
“I’d like to watch the G30S/PKI REBELLION again, show it on national television again... give pak @jokowi more spirit/enthusiasm to clobber the PKI”, tweeted netizen @andrie_jkt82 recently.
Notes
In September 1998, the government dropped the requirement for all TV stations to broadcast the film Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The Betrayal of the September 30 Movement/Indonesian Communist Party), a dramatisation of the New Order’s version of the events surrounding the alleged communist coup in 1965. The film, one of the most effective pieces of propaganda produced by the Suharto dictatorship, had been a compulsory program for all stations every September 30 since its release in 1984.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was Muncul Usulan Pemutaran Kembali Film G30S/PKI, Fadli Zon Setuju.]
