Minister Of Culture Fadli Zon Encourages Historical Rewriting To Find The Nation's Self-Defense

JAKARTA - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon emphasized the importance of rewriting Indonesian history so that the younger generation finds the identity of the nation. The statement was made at the National Seminar of the Association of Historical Education Programs in Indonesia (P3SI) at the Jakarta State University (UNJ), Saturday, July 5.

According to Fadli, Indonesia's history has not been systematically documented since the Reformation era. "Finally, the Indonesian National History Book was compiled in the 1970s by the Prof. Soekanto team. Meanwhile, Indonesia in the History Flow published in 2012 did not cover the BJ Habibie period to Joko Widodo," said Fadli Zon in his virtual remarks.

He stressed the need to shift historical points of view that are still affected by the colonial narrative. The Dutch called their military aggression a 'polinical action'. Even though for our nation, it is clear colonialism," he said.

Fadli assessed that the writing of history is not just recording events, but the process of building a national identity. "It's time for us to rewrite history not only as a record, but as a basis for forming a generation that understands who he is and where his nation is going," he said.

This seminar carries the theme Writing History, Building a Nation: Building the Role of Historical Education in Schools. Chairperson of the Nuraeni Marta Committee explained that this forum became a strategic discussion room for lecturers and historical academics from all over Indonesia.

The event also presented well-known speakers, such as Prof. Singgih Tri Sulistiyono (Diponegoro University), Hamdan Tri Atmaja (Semarang State University), and Sumardiansyah (Indonesian History Teacher Association).

P3SI Chairman Zulkarnain emphasized that this congress is an important momentum to strengthen inter-history collaboration. "This fourth Congress is a crucial moment to strengthen the existence of P3SI and encourage the development of historical education in the country," he said.

Director General of Cultural Protection and Culture of Restu Gunawan added that historical learning is not just a matter of memorization. "History has potential creative ideas that we must take advantage of," he said.

This seminar is also combined with the signing of the MoU between the Ministry of Culture and UNJ. The signing was carried out by the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Legal Sciences Firdaus Wajdi together with Prof. Dr. Agus Mulyana.

Through this activity, the government hopes that a new spirit will be born to build a narrative of Indonesia's more Indonesian-centric history.