Wasn’t the Indonesian killings in 1965-66 one of the big genocides of 20th century – at least 500,000 a million people were killed and some numbers point as high as 1 million.
Some Army figures claim up to 2 million, but this is generally seen as boastful exaggeration. The scholarly consensus is that around 500,000 people were killed.
Radio Australia was instructed not to broadcast information that the Army-controlled domestic media would not broadcast themselves, such as PKI denials of atrocities which they were alleged to have committed and which served as the ostensible basis for the killing, i.e. ‘it’s them or us’. This propaganda was effective at the time and, as seen below, even today.
What Soeharto done is much more effective then slaughtered…He practically create a National hatred for communism..make communism as pariah of society..and that what clearly pacified millions of PKI’s members and sympathizers. They can not get decent job, their children can not got decent school..Nobody wants to socialize with them, many families would not let their children marry to someone whose parents was members of PKI’s or have ‘questionable’ relationship with PKI and its organizations. That’s why, many Indonesians has show not much interest on killings on PKI’s members, since most of us see the numbers exaggerated, and many of us still see the PKI’s members deserved what got in to them. No one can justifies the killings, but no much sympathies either for PKI’s fate. It’s not denial, it’s simply do not care, since many public still see PKI got what they deserve. That’s what Soeharto big achievement in Politics, a national hatred to communism, that still strong even today.
*slow clap*
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