Indonesia Post 1st Anniversary of Hereoes of the Revolution

INDONESIA POST in 10 November 1966 issued a set of ten stamps commemorating the First Anniversary of 10 national heroes killed during the attempted coupe by the "30th Sein do optember Movement”. Among the "Heroes of the Revolution" found dead in Lubang Buaya were General Ahmad Yani, Brigadier General D. I. Pandjaitan, Major General R. Suprapto, Brigadier General Sutoyo Siswomiharjo, Major General M. T. Haryono, Major General S. Parman, First Lieutenant Pierre Tendean.

 

The stamps served as part of a propaganda campaign for the Indonesian army to inflame public opinion against the the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia - PKI), thereby leaving President Sukarno without a major ally.

In 1965, at the height of the Cold War, a communist victory in Indonesia seemed plausible. At the time,  the PKI was the third-largest in the world with three million members.

In that year, however, the systematic destruction of the PKI began. The Indonesian army destroyed the party after a group calling themselves the “30th September Movement” kidnapped six generals in a botched attempt to weaken the army. 

The movement involved only a select number of top PKI leaders, but it was used as a pretext not only to ban the party but to conduct a massacre of party members that claimed half-a-million lives. 

In the following years communists, alleged communists, and their families were frequently denied basic rights (e.g., the right to a fair trial, the right to equal opportunity in employment, and freedom from discrimination). Between 1969 and 1980, approximately 10,000 persons, primarily known or purported communists, were detained without trial on the island of Buru in the Moluccas.

In March 1966, against a background of student protests, the army forced Sukarno to delegate extensive powers to Suharto, now chief of staff of the army. With his new authority, Suharto banned the PKI and moved gradually to consolidate his position as the effective head of government. In March 1967 the Indonesian legislature installed Suharto as acting president, and in March 1968 he was appointed to the presidency in his own right. Sukarno was kept under house arrest until his death on 21 June 1970.

Some historians suspect Suharto had actually been informed of a planned coupe, but chose to remain silent in order to remove PKI members and sympathisers. PKI/September 30 Movement initiated the coupe fearing Sukarno's poor heath would weaken their foothold in Indonesian politics. Consequently, with Sukarno under arrest, PKI and September 30 Movement eliminated, the right-wing military wing and conservative businessmen threw their support to Suharto.

To this day, more than half a century later, communism is banned in Indonesia. The murders, torture and imprisonment of party members and their associates have never been accounted for.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia