FROM A READER:
Recently there has been a major drive, spearheaded by the
Jakarta Post, towards historical revisonism, regarding the
'events' of 1965, when the P.K.I. Communists tortured and
murdered many of Indonesia's top generals, and the little
daughter of another famous soldier, General Nasution. Demands
that survivng Red traitors be rehabilitated surface often.
Revisionism is a fine thing, but it should be based on facts,
either newly discovered or re-interpreted.
Sadly, the J.P. version appears to have no rational foundation,
but is based on open sympathy with Communist dictatorial
systems, as exemplified in a recent editorial eulogising Vietnam.
Their gushing praise for the heinous tyranny of Ho Chi Minh was
expressed in tandem with apparently non-ironic quotes from his
hypocritical use of fancy 'rights' language to mask a regime as
brutally oppressive as Mao or Hitler.
The Jakarta Post appears to be operating on an agenda of facile
Sixties radicalism, the kind of minds who fatuously bracketed
the rape of Czechoslovakia in 1968 with America's brave effort
in South East Asia. If you really think there is any serious
comparison, think about the boat people. Or the fact that even a
lefty like Joan Baez was moved to protest at what became of
Vietnam once freedom's flag fell.
As Rabbie Burns said, 'Facts are chiels that willna ding.' And
the Reds' guilt in 1965 Jakarta is too well-proven to need much
extra argument.
For a while after the slaughter at the Crocodile Well, the P.K.I.
tried to deny involvement.So why was P.K.I. leader Aidit hanging
about like a bad smell at the vortex of the coup? And wasn't
their Harian Rakyat newspaper very prompt in its endorsement of
the coup? So prompt that it had to have had prior knowledge?
Communist fellow-travellers in the Armed Forces, who called
themselves the 30th September Movement, didn't have to carry
party cards. Some of Communism's greatest triumphs have been
brought about by those who don't flaunt their memberships. Look
at the Air Force boss named Dhani, who had long been brazenly
open in his pro-P.K.I. sympathies, and must have been in on the
attempt to import thousands of weapons for the proposed Fifth
Force- a communist 'goon squad' which already existed in limited
numbers, and was being trained under Air Force and other
military auspices at Halim.
It is indisputable that the control, and inspiration, of the
take-over was Communist, albeit with a degree of collaboration
afforded by the ailing and paranoid Sukarno. He had been in the
habit of banning parties and had himself declared President for
Life, so there was no democratic character there to stop him
consorting with freedom's enemies.
A seriously researched history of the time was written by the
Dutch diplomat Dake, in his book 'In the Spirit of the Red
Banteng.' It weighs up the evidence and finds the P.K.I. was
complicit, though it blames Sukarno too.
Few still cling to the old pink myth that it was all a C.I.A.
plot, because the pattern of subversion is typically Red. So the
next question that arises is whether the resulting revenge
against the P.K.I. was justified.
I am publishing a novel soon, called RED JAKARTA, which required
me to study, or revise my studies, what Communists did, and do,
in all the countries they capture. Having spent my post-grad
time at university in successful pursuit of a Diploma in Soviet
Studies, I knew a bit but had forgotten a lot. In-depth use of
latest info, now that the Wall has fallen and folk are free to
talk of the terror, was a bracing experiance.
There is no doubt that Communism killed more innocents than
Nazism.
The Ukrainian Holocaust was worse than the Hitler version. Mao
massacred millions by deliberate famine, an outrage, as is
today's continuing colonisation of Tibet by China's genocidal
stormtroops.. North Korea is a nightmare. (Incidentally, North
Korea is also the country picked out by Aidit as his ideological
true love!) Cuban patriots like Huber Matos and Valladares
suffered torture on trumped up charges for years in Red prisons.
None of those atrocities has ever been secret for long, and only
idiots refused to believe in them, though evil men like Walter
Duranty in America and Sidney Webb in Britain tried to cover-up
the Reds' worst crimes.
But by 1965 it was impossible for anyone who could read a book
or a magazine not to know the nature of the beast. The prattle
everyone had heard about China - Mao just an agrarian reformer -
then Cuba - Castro's mendacious denial of his totalitarian
allegiance - was not going to wash about Indonesia. Communists
may vary the song sheet but the bullet in the back of the neck
still awaits democrats, religious believers and patriots,
everywhere. So Muslims, Christians, soldiers and students struck
back hard.Nor should we forget the Hindus of Bali, who got
seriously stuck in to the Reds who had taken over their island.
Sure, lots of people took advantage to settle old scores,
others undoubtedly killed in error. Such deaths must be
condemned without hesitation.
It is also possible to feel sympathy for poor peasants duped by
Communist lies into signing up. Many were illiterate and didn't
know any better.
But Communist Party members like Aidit and his politburo, and
the 'intellectuals' who always flock to the poisoned well of
marxism, deserved all they got. They were knowingly seeking to
consign a nation of more than a hundred million souls to the
living death of the Hammer and Sickle. If they had come to
power, then Bulgaria's Belene, Russia's Vorkuta, and all the
other concentration, torture and forced labour camps that sadly
still proliferate across China, Cuba and North Korea, would have
been replicated here, a thousandfold, perhaps.
Don't ever forget Lubang Buaya!
F O R S A L E
- Rattan-Sofa, 3-seater
- 4-door clothing cabinet
- small cabinet/sideboard
- make-up table/cabinet
- Billiard pool table
- Round chair “Papa Son”
- Kettler fitness-equipment
Please contact Ayu under 7805486 or Peter
0816-789334
-------------------
Roberts Furniture
at Jalan Wijaya Kusuma No. D.4, Jakarta 12430. Tel. 021-7512223. A
great selection of both original and reproduction furniture at the
best prices.
There are many rumors going around that BuGils has been closed
indefinitely. BuGils however, is still in business. The dispute
with the government officials has hopefully been solved, so both
parties can go back to their normal routines again until the next
Ramadan. The support I received was overwhelming and I apologize
for not replying to all of your emails: there were just too many!
Many thanks!
