May 1998 Tragedy Removed From History? DPR: Stop Writing Partials

Illustration of the 1998 demonstration tragedy (INTERTARA archive)

JAKARTA - Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives plans to summon the Minister of Culture Fadli Zon to provide clarification regarding a controversial statement that said the mass rape incident in the May 1998 riots was just a rumor. Fadli Zon's claim resulted in a ban on rewriting history which is currently being worked on by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Member of Commission X of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia masyarakat Triyana assessed that the subjective views of Menbud Fadli Zon could not deny that the heartbreaking events in the tragedy 98 never happened. Although according to Fadli, there was no evidence of a rape incident in May 1998.

"What the Minister of Culture said doesn't exist, doesn't mean it doesn't happen," saidten Triyana, Wednesday, June 18.

According toction, Fadli Zon as Minister of Culture who initiated Indonesia's historical rewriting project should not perpetuate the culture of denial of acts of violence, especially sexual violence against Chinese women in racial riots in 1998.

"If the spirit of writing history is to unite, why is his way of thinking partial by questioning the term mass or not in sexual violence, even though the TGPF report clearly states that there are more than 50 victims of rape", explained cap.

This member of the Commission in the House of Representatives in charge of education and cultural affairs emphasized that historical works will be useful for the children and grandchildren of the nation not only because they are filled with inspiring heroic stories.men say, a collective experience that is painful in the history of the nation's past can also be a lesson.

"Without exception for current and future state administrators," said the legislator from the Banten I electoral district.

Then he reminded that denial of the dark events at the May 1998 riots would only add to the inner wounds of the victims and their families, as well as the people involved in the bloody tragedy of the reform era. Moreover, it is called a rumor that has no evidence.

"Responding to the mass rape of Chinese women in the 1998 racial riots will only add to the traumatic burden on survivors and their families, even to the people who experienced the incident",aired.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Culture is working on the rewriting of national history which is targeted to be completed in August 2025. However, in the draft Concept of 'Indonesian History', it turns out that a number of gross human rights violations were not included.

Some of the human rights violations that were 'disappeared' in the historical rewriting project included the rape of Chinese women in the May 1998 Incident, the mysterious shooting (Petrus), the forced disappearance of 1997-1998 activists, the tragedy of Trisakti and Semanggi I and II, as well as cases of human rights violations in Aceh and Papua.

Therefore, pantas mendesak Kementerian Kebudayaan sebagai mitra Komisi X DPR untuk menghentikan proyek reulang sejarah jika hanya bertujuan politik. Apalagi jika tujuan reulang sejarah untuk meleksi cerita perjalanan bangsa Indonesia sesuai keinginan pemegang kekuatan sehingga bersifat partial atau sebagian dan tidak menyelesaihan.

"Don't do history writing through a selective and partial approach to power over political considerations. If this happens, it's better to just stop this historical writing project," concludedten.

As is known, the Minister of Culture (Menbud) Fadli Zon claimed that there was no evidence about the mass rape incident in the May 1998 riot tragedy. According to him, the story about the incident was only based on rumors circulating.

Fadli Zon also said that the Joint Fact Finding Team (TGPF) had 'disputed' and 'couldn't prove' his report revealing testimony and evidence that women were targets of rape.

In fact, the TGPF report on the May 13-15 rioting case in 1998 found acts of sexual violence that occurred in Jakarta, Medan, and Surabaya in the 1998 riots. The form of sexual violence was divided into four categories, namely rape (52 victims), rape with persecution (14 people), assault/sexual assault (10 people), and sexual harassment (9 people).

TGPF also revealed that in addition to the mass rape victims that occurred in the May 98 riots, victims of sexual violence were also found before and after the riots.