The Government Allows The Screening Of G30S/PKI Films In Today's Memory, September 29, 2020

Poster of the film Penumpasan Pengkhargaan G30S/PKI. (imdb.com)

JAKARTA Memories of today, five years ago, September 29, 2020, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD emphasized that the government did not prohibit the screening of the film Penumpasan Pengkhargaan G30S/PKI. The film is allowed as long as it does not create a crowd.

Previously, the film G30S/PKI became a propaganda film in the New Order era. The film became an invitation to expose the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Later the film was banned in the era of Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie's administration.

The September 30th Movement (G30S) incident brought grief throughout Indonesia. The narrative was because the kidnapping and murder of a number of Army generals occurred. The killing made the anger of all Indonesian people increase.

They are furious with the PKI which is considered the mastermind. Suharto and New Order's defense tried to take advantage of the situation. They wanted to make a propaganda film on the betrayal of the G30S/PKI in 1984, even though the incident was over a long time ago.

The film then airs annually on September 30 on TVRI and private television stations. The film is like raising the heroic side of the government. However, the content of the film is doubtful by many. Many scenes are considered excessive and too fictional.

The public who are forced to watch the G30S film every year starts to get tired. Then, Suharto and New Order ulcers increasingly appeared in 1998. They failed to defend the government against the economic crisis. As a result, Suharto stepped down from power.

This condition made Vice President Habibie rise to President in 1998. This position made Habibie take many important policies. The most memorable policy is to prohibit the G30S film from being published on television.

Habibie thought the film only made the Indonesian people fail to move. They continue to remain silent in the puddles of the past. He considered this condition to be a big loss for future generations.

"I don't want to let it out if it's honest. I don't really take the time I have 24 hours a day to dig into the past. I don't want to. And that's why, it's wrong. Many nations because they don't progress."

"All the heroes, like I said earlier. I have to clean up a lot of anti-anti ones, which I also don't hug, because they are also my brothers," Habibie explained as quoted on the Kompas TV page, September 28, 2017.

The narrative of the rise of the PKI emerged again in the era of the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government. This condition made all military generals worried. Mainly, the former TNI Commander, Gatot Nurmantyo. They then tried to restore their memories by watching the film of the betrayal of G30S/PKI.

That desire brought a stir. In fact, films have long been banned from broadcasting on television. Mahfud MD immediately reacted. He considered watching the G30S film not a problem on September 29, 2020. The government allowed the G30S film to be screened.

The permit was granted during the event to watch together did not trigger a crowd because it was still the atmosphere of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mahfud considers the most important thing about people's desire to watch is not coercion, but the heart itself.

"So many have asked whether the screening of the G30S/PKI betrayal film is allowed or not, I have said that the screening of the film is permissible, nothing prohibits it, but also does not require it. That applies not only to viewers of the G30S/PKI film, but to any activities that violate health protocols, it is prohibited," Mahfud said as quoted by Sampas.com, September 29, 2020.