Open And Have Great Spirit, Alissa Wahid Values Agus Widjojo As The Right Figure To Reconcile The 1965 Tragedy

Governor of the National Defense Institute, Agus Widjojo (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The National Director of the Indonesian Gusdurian Network, Alissa Wahid, said that the Governor of the National Defense Institute, Lieutenant General TNI (Ret.) Agus Widjojo, was the right person for efforts to reconcile the 1965 tragedy.

"I feel that Pak Agus is the right figure in completing phase 65 (the 1965 tragedy)," he said in a statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, August 26.

Alissa conveyed this after seeing a photo of Widjojo with a child of a political prisoner at a forum discussing the 1965 tragedy, namely the 65th National Symposium.

In addition, the figure of Widjojo - the son of Lieutenant General TNI (Posthumous) Sutojo Siswomihardjo - is closely related to the 1965 tragedy because the former deputy chairman of the MPR from the TNI faction and witnessed the events of 65.

From there, the daughter of former President KH Abdurrahman Wahid saw an opportunity for reconciliation and true peace for the 1965 tragedy.

Widjojo, who is considered the right person for the reconciliation of the 1965 tragedy, is also based on several meetings between the two, including when he met at Komnas HAM during talks about reconciliation and was filled with psychiatric films from the United States.

In addition, he said that a figure with an open mind and great spirit was needed in discussing and completing the 1965 reconciliation. He also reflected on this figure and attitude from the book entitled 'Tentara Kok Mikir: Out Of The Box Inspiration Letjen TNI (Ret.) Agus Widjojo' which contains about Widjojo's thoughts and life which was launched on Wednesday (25/8).

According to him, the general was the most generous person in understanding the 1965 tragedy, as Gus Dur said, every nation will go through twists and turns in its history and it takes greatness to accept and understand and use lessons for the future.

“This is reflected in how Pak Agus sees the 1965 tragedy and its reconciliation. Completely open-minded as a historical actor,” said Alissa.

The same thing was conveyed by activist, Dimas Oki Nugroho, at the book launch event entitled Army Kok Thinking: Out Of The Box Inspiration for Indonesian Military Lieutenant General (Ret.) Agus Widjojo at the National Resilience Institute Building, Jakarta.

He considered that Widjojo was a person who was able to see all the dynamics and tragedies of 1965 with a big soul. "The problem now is honesty. Pak Agus offers reconciliation. So he is known as a reconciliator," he said.