TNI General Asked About G30S/PKI Film Screening Debacle

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) commander General Gatot Nurmantyo said he was not worried about the controversy regarding his instruction towards his men to watch the G30S/PKI film. General Gatot asserted that the Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo already approved the screening.

Upon answering whether he ordered his men to watch the documentary, General Gatot Nurmantyo furiously said that he will not revoke his orders for the TNI personnel to watch the G30S/PKI film. “If it was [my] order, what’s wrong [with that]?” the General said on Monday, September 18.

He claimed that he was not worried about the criticisms arose from numerous groups that questioned the accuracy of the film’s material. Gatot argued that the movie depicting the G30S/PKI incident was correct and must be seen by the younger generation in order to understand history.

The TNI commander further revealed that his own child would not be able to understand the history of communism in Indonesia without watching the movie. Based on such reason, he instructed the screening of the G30S/PKI film in order to rectify Indonesia’s history, which coincides with the message issued by the country’s first president Bung Karno to never forget history.

On the fact of other groups demanding the G30S/PKI film screening to be stopped, the TNI commander said that only the government who was able to do that.

HARI TRI WASONO