![]() This year, the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival was stopped from holding panel discussions on the 50th anniversary of the massacres or discuss Joshua Oppenheimer’s recent films about those massacres-The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence. The Central Intelligence Agency called it “one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century". The army cracked down on suspected communists and other dissidents, ruthlessly crushing dissent. ![]() The Indonesian Communist Party was blamed for the coup and in the massacres that followed, between 500,000 and a million died. Sukarno was arrested and military forces led by General Suharto took control of the situation. The turning point was on 1 October 1965, when six senior generals were murdered. That period is now popularly known through Peter Weir’s 1982 film, The Year of Living Dangerously, based on Christopher Koch’s novel. As Sukarno flirted with communists and the army became wary, Anderson returned to Cornell, wondering what lay ahead.ĭuring the steamy summer of 1965, many analysts wondered if Indonesia would fall to communism. ![]() ![]() He had researched in Indonesia till 1964, as the country lurched towards anarchy under the mercurial leader, Sukarno. Anderson’s engagement with Indonesia began six decades ago. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |