Profile Of The Founder Of NU Is Missing And Communist Figures Appear, Ministry Of Education And Culture: We Apologize, This Is Negligence

Kemendikbud / Voi building

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Education and Culture finally admitted that there was negligence related to the loss of the profile of the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Kiai Haji Hasyim Asy'ari in the Indonesian History Dictionary, and instead contained a figure with communist views such as DN Aidit.

This was conveyed by the Director General (Dirjen) of Culture Kemendikbud Hilmar Farid. Kemendikbud claims that the manuscript in circulation is still being worked on and has not been further edited.

"In conclusion, yes, this is a complete negligence. The manuscript which was not ready (published, red) was then published on the website," Hilmar said in an online press conference, Tuesday, April 20.

He said, this dictionary was done in 2017. However, until the end of the fiscal year, work has not been completed.

Furthermore, because they had to make a report, the Indonesian History Dictionary was then laid out and made a print and digital version. For the printed version, Hilmar admitted that there were only a few dozen copies for editing purposes.

Next, in 2019, the Director of History held by Triana Wulandari was asked to provide material to be uploaded on the Rumah Belajar website. At that time, the Indonesian History Dictionary was uploaded.

"I have checked up to the staff working in the field, I really put it in chronological order and the conclusion is that this is really negligent," he said.

Hilmar apologized for this negligence. Currently, he confirms that the Indonesian History Dictionary has been digitally taken down from the Rumah History website while the printed version has been withdrawn.

Hilmar also stated that the Ministry of Education and Culture did not intend to negate the profile of the founder of NU. "Of course there is no intention of eliminating. So if someone mentions eliminating the narrative of a character (KH Hasyim Asy'ari), I can confirm that it is not true. Sorry, this does not need to happen," he said.

"We have submitted this book, so it is no longer on the Rumah Belajar website. All modern history books have also been published until there is a review," he concluded.