Behind The Controversy Of Indonesian History Writing

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon when fulfilling the invitation of the DPR RI. (IST)

The government through the Ministry of Culture started a big project: rewriting Indonesia's history. The DPR has approved this idea on the grounds of "Indonesian-centric perspectives." Commission X fully supports it. DPR Speaker Puan Maharani emphasized that the process must be transparent so that history is not locked in one interpretation.

Rewriting is not just exposing the old narrative. This is an attempt to seize the way we talk about ourselves. For decades, called the Minister of Culture Fadli Zon, history books borrow a lot of foreign points of view. Old data often escapes verification. The dominant narrative is left as absolute.

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said this program had been designed for a long time. "The last historical book written by the Habibie era, has not been updated for 26 years," he said. This fact explains why foreign historian opinions are more common than research by the country's children.

According to Fadli Zon, history is the identity of the nation. He reminded that this project should be a momentum for teaching the younger generation to critically assess facts. "If it's not written carefully, history is easy to use political weapons," he said.

The most sensitive controversy arose in the 'mass rape' diction in the May 1998 riots. The Minister of Culture stressed he did not deny the incident, only questioning the mass' claim that had never been thoroughly verified.

Reporting from Suara Merdeka Jakarta, Darmawan Sepriyossa, a 1998 journalist, said he investigated this case for three months. We interviewed many sources, extended coverage. But none of the victims directly or medical evidence was found," he said. Wahyu Muryadi, a former Tempo Executive Editor, said that many testimonials were only in the form of news "only he said" that could not be tested cross-tested.

It said some of the May 1998 tragedy documents relied on foreign media reports that were never fully verified. This gap makes the facts run away and vulnerable to politicization.

Fadli Zon reminded that the history of running away is easier to become propaganda. "We keep the wound, but don't lose common sense," he said. The statement was not popular, but important. Empathy should not replace verification.

Due to controversy, the DPR formed a cross-commission Supervision Team to monitor the project. Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Sufmi Dasco, said the team would work professionally and objectively.

This historical rewriting project itself involves 40 historians and researchers. The first Draft will be publicly tested before it is established. There are parties who suspect the state wants to monopolize memory. However, the open process provides an opportunity for mutual correction. The public can test arguments, assess which facts and which are just collective beliefs.

This move is uncomfortable. The old wound will be exposed. Some narratives may collapse. But the courage to look back on the past is better than letting the fog continue to hang. Because history, in the end, only sided with people who dare to check the truth, not on a comfortable myth.