Necip F. Bahadir
Despite the intense agenda, today I will discuss a real story from afar, in the style of a ‘weekend article’. The ‘taste’ of the story is quite bitter; it is anything but pleasant. I first read the book, then watched the film. I was in ‘shock’ at what I saw. I regretted being unaware of such a massive massacre. I mourned for the years when I looked at that distant ‘country’ and the mastermind behind the massacre with sympathy.
That country is Indonesia, and the leader who killed millions of people without blinking an eye and filled prisons with an equal number of people was Suharto. I learned about the events in Indonesia from Muhsin Altun’s book ‘Dindarca Öldürmek’. Altun answers the question, “How were one million red Muslims killed?” Then, I watched a documentary film about the massacre. My heart ached.
I learned that Mehmet Şevket Eygi wrote a book titled “How Did Muslims Cleanse the Reds in Indonesia?” Unfortunately, Muslims in Turkey have viewed the events from a ‘one-sided’ and ‘wrong perspective’. How can a Muslim kill his co-religionists just because they think differently? I was saddened when I read the title of Eygi’s book. I wanted you to know what I have learned.
As you know, Indonesia, located between the Pacific and Indian Oceans on the Asian continent, is one of the most populous countries in the world. It is an island nation… Comprising more than 17,000 small land masses. The largest islands are Sumatra and Java. The tourist destination Bali is part of Indonesia… Yes, geographically it is quite distant from us. It seems to have no place in our cultural geography.
While starting the article, I referred to it as a ‘story, tale’, but it is definitely not fiction or imagination. It is the stark reality. I will try to summarize the tragedy that occurred 60 years ago and still lingers, using Muhsin Altun’s book.
After the failed coup attempt, the army under Suharto (above) launched a large-scale crackdown against the communists. During this process, members and sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and many civilians, were killed in mass executions. The number of those killed is reported to have exceeded 1 million.
We will eradicate them all! On the morning of October 1, 1965… The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, witnessed a coup attempt initiated by a group of officers after dawn. Known as the ‘30 September Movement’, the coup plotters kidnapped 6 generals from the upper echelons of the army. In a broadcast read under duress by the announcer in a radio building surrounded by soldiers, they announced that they were taking action to protect the country’s founding leader Sukarno from the anti-communist generals’ coup. Does the ‘scenario’ sound familiar?
Senior commander of the army Suharto took command, and that evening he suppressed the coup attempt without firing a single shot. Based on the confessions of two civilians found at the coup plotters’ headquarters, the army announced that the Indonesian Communist Party was behind the coup attempt. Suharto ended his broadcast to the nation on the radio by saying, “We will eradicate all their roots!”
Following that, a massive massacre and purge began. Under the name ‘Ensar’, religious gangs and groups killed more than a million people between October 1965 and March 1966, accusing them of being ‘communists and participants in the coup attempt’. Due to the limited resources of the army, Suharto’s regime found a solution in targeting religious Muslims, labeling them as ‘communists’ and ‘reds’.
Fatwas for the massacre were issued Religious organizations and well-known clerics nationwide issued fatwas declaring that communists were infidels, atheists, and possessed heretical beliefs, and that killing them would be considered a good deed and worship. Ensar militias, consisting of students collected from religious boarding schools and madrasas, carried out brutal and bloody executions with traditional weapons—axes, swords, knives, bamboo spears—according to lists distributed by the army.
Millions of those killed were landless and impoverished villagers, teachers, small officials, artists, students, and a few Communist Party cadres. The victims were accused of not being sufficiently religious according to Sunni interpretations of Islam. They were called ‘abargan’, meaning ‘reds’. The killers were referred to as ‘Santri’, meaning ‘pious’ or ‘conservative’.
They first raped and then killed women The Santri’s targets were predominantly women. In hopes of earning merit, they raped women multiple times before killing them, killed the babies in their wombs and on their laps, and inflicted unimaginable tortures. Years later, the blood-stained murderers proudly recounted their actions to researchers and journalists.
None of the perpetrators of the massacre and purge were brought to court. On the contrary, the Suharto regime changed the laws to ‘impunity’ and enacted legislation. The crimes committed by the murderers went unpunished. It didn’t stop at the massacres alone. One and a half million people, deemed to be connected to or associated with the Communist Party, were arrested, sent to prisons, and internment camps.
Their guilt could not be proven, but they were not released either! Only the island of Java hosted 34,000 ‘B Group’ detainees. B Group consisted of individuals who were members of the Communist Party or its affiliates but had no evidence of participating in the coup attempt, hence were not brought to court but deemed dangerous for release. The nurseries, schools, and universities associated with the party and related organizations were closed, their assets seized by the Suharto regime, and some were transferred to Islamic organizations.
The rising costs in prisons led Suharto’s regime to seek different solutions. An official delegation proposed turning ‘Buru’ Island, 2,700 kilometers northeast of Jakarta, into a prison colony. The island was deemed suitable due to its dense forests that naturally prevented escape and the presence of resources necessary for survival.
And Buru Island was designated as the ‘Rehabilitation Center’ for B Group prisoners. According to Justice Minister Sugih Arto, residing on an island was considered ‘more humane’ than being confined within four walls. In 1969, the first group set sail, and within three years, the number of detainees transported to the island exceeded 10,000. Buru was dubbed ‘Red Island’.
Release through ‘Undertaking’ Detainees lived in barracks of 50 people each, which they built themselves. Many detainees died on the island due to malnutrition, tuberculosis, malaria, excessive work, and torture. A large portion also fell victim to deliberate neglect. Due to calls from human rights organizations and the Carter administration in the U.S., most of the B Group detainees were eventually released.
Before their release, detainees were made to sign an ‘undertaking’ pledging not to engage in activities aiming to spread their ideas and not to file lawsuits against the state. The last person to leave the island without signing the undertaking was the renowned writer Pramudya Ananta Tur. Displeasing to the authorities, Pramudya spent about 17 years in prison, 13 of them under house arrest.
After the coup attempt, Pramudya’s home was raided and looted by the Ensar gangs. His books and notes were burned. After spending five years in Jakarta’s prison, he was moved to Buru with the first group. He stayed there for 10 years. He lost his hearing in his right ear from a soldier’s rifle butt, while his left ear retained partial hearing. When the then Minister of Justice was asked about Pramudya’s condition, he mockingly replied, “We allowed him to write, but he had no pen or paper!”
Suharto, 1976… They took revenge for the coup they initiated! Pramudya, freed from hard labor due to international pressure, got a typewriter. He wrote ‘The Buru Quartet’ there. He secretly noted the stories of his imprisoned friends, turned them into four tales, and smuggled them out through hidden pockets of female relatives. He described his experiences on the island in the book ‘The Silent Song of the Mute’.
In 1972, a journalist asked Suharto if Pramudya had any connection to the September 30 movement. Suharto laughed and said, “No!”; “As someone close to the communists, if the coup had succeeded, people like him would have sanctified the coup.”
Pramudya evaluated the coup attempt in his last book, ‘Exile’. “Here’s what happened. The army and Suharto initiated the coup and then, accusing others of being coup plotters, killed two million people. Do you understand? They killed two million people to take revenge for something they did themselves.”
Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, resigned in 1998 due to the turmoil in the country. After Suharto’s resignation, research began on the field and in the archives. Witnesses and perpetrators were interviewed. Survivors of the massacre, still in fear, were reluctant to speak about their experiences even under pseudonyms. The extent of anger and hatred was horrifying. Meanwhile, leftist groups blamed each other in a process of ‘self-criticism’.
Mass Graves Are Being Unearthed
In 1999, Pramudya and his friends established the ‘1965 Victims Research Foundation’. The foundation faced harsh reactions from pious Muslims. They held marches and demonstrations with banners. The house of Ibu Sulam, one of the foundation’s activists, was raided, and the family members were tortured. Only one of the attackers was captured. However, his confession in court did not reveal anything significant. The massacre was buried under layers of lies and denial.
The authorities have repeatedly refused to investigate the mass graves, claiming they are mere ‘hearsay’. However, mass graves continue to be unearthed one after another. Witnesses who can talk about what happened are now elderly. Yet, no one has been held accountable. Suharto has died, and his family remains untouched. The victims’ relatives are still waiting for justice and accountability.
