Is the killing between communists and Muslims in Indonesia during 1965 mutual?
Upvote:4
The Wikipedia article says:
Although some PKI branches organised resistance and reprisal killings, most went passively to their deaths
Citing this reference I can not access:
McDonald (1980), p. 53; Friend (2003), p. 115.
McDonald, Hamish (1980). Suharto's Indonesia. Melbourne: Fontana Books. ISBN 0-00-635721-0.
Friend, T. (2003). Indonesian Destinies. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01137-6.
Upvote:5
While @nic provides the crux of the answer, I thought I would elaborate a bit.
The immediate event that triggered the mass killing was the kidnapping and murder of 6 generals in an apparent coup d'etat attempt against Sukarno by the so-called 30 September Movement. It is not known whether and to what extent the communist PKI (Communist Party of Indonesia) was involved in this killing, but the "official" story under Suharto's subsequent regime was that the PKI was to blame. The scale of this single event pales in comparison to the period of mass killing that followed, but I thought it relevant to mention.
The question refers to "killing between communists and Muslims" but this is a misleading description of what happened, which reflects the "official" version of events. Especially in the beginning but to some degree throughout the massacres of suspected PKI supporters was led by the army. Particularly in this phase and in central Java where the communists were most well organized, PKI supporters did fight back to some extent but were quickly overwhelmed. (source)
Muslim groups (specifically santri, as many of the victims were also Muslim, but typically abangan) did quickly become important participants in areas where they were the majority. In Bali, there were Hindu groups that played a similar role. While religious groups did a lot of the "dirty work" in perpetrating the killing, it is clear that they did not initiate it in the country as a whole. It was possible for such groups to participate in the killing only because those communists who were in any position to defend themselves were defeated by the army. For more on the specific role of the army in the mass killing, here is a book The Army and the Indonesian Genocide: Mechanics of Mass Murder by Jess Melvin.
The most significant case of reprisal killing I have seen mention of came in 1968 near Blitar, when about 60 members of Nahdlatul Ulama were killed. This was a santri Muslim group which participated in the killings of 1965. This was part of a more general armed insurgency as described in this article. While this was certainly a significant event, I would still say that the answer to the headline question is "no", the killing in 1965 was not two-sided.
More post
- 📝 How did medieval manors handle population growth? Was there room for more fields to be ploughed?
- 📝 Did the Soviets excel in one area of weaponry during World War II?
- 📝 When were the lictors abolished?
- 📝 Why does the Spanish Military Medical Corps use the Amalfitan Cross?
- 📝 Why does a Star of David appear at a rally with Francisco Franco?
- 📝 Did Aetius or Attila fight in the Battle of Worms (436)?
- 📝 How prominent were taverns in medieval Europe?
- 📝 The diminishing role of the "family name" throughout the Byzantine Empire
- 📝 Were there commercials in the original broadcast of the moon landings, and how much did they go for?
- 📝 How granting Kosovo independence was a violation of international law?
- 📝 Does the number of legs in the air of a horse statue indicate how its rider died?
- 📝 What were the names of these two Ancient Greek boxing/pankration legends?
- 📝 Why was the German Jewish population declining so much that some statisticians predicted its disappearance even before the 3rd Reich?
- 📝 Medieval wall and garment patterns
- 📝 Why did Dorothy Dixers become prevalent in question time in Australia?
- 📝 Why did the Germans not encircle and besiege Stalingrad?
- 📝 How did the Crimean war change British society?
- 📝 What heavy industrial work, if any, was done in USSR 1923-1927?
- 📝 What evidence is there to suggest that 'fear of the bomb' is culturally specific?
- 📝 Is this name transcribed correctly from cursive writing from 1866?
- 📝 When did the British monarch become an emperor?
- 📝 Which was the official position of the Catholic Church on the Atlantic Slave Trade?
- 📝 In 1914 why didn't Germany simply mobilize its army without declaring war?
- 📝 What was used for writing in 15th century Europe?
- 📝 What is Seneca the Younger referring to about Pompey's death?
- 📝 What explanations have been given as to why the Jews were not killed in Italy?
- 📝 Was Ezra Pound a descendent of Jews?
- 📝 Where and when is this sword from?
- 📝 Why wasn't Angelica Schuyler in danger in London despite supporting revolution?
- 📝 What country has had territorial disputes with the largest number of neighbors/other countries at the same time?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is the killing between communists and Muslims in Indonesia during 1965 mutual?
- 📝 When did the first riots between Hindus and Muslims happen in India?
- 📝 How was the relation between the Ottoman Empire and Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro during the Second Balkan War?
- 📝 What was the border regime between Poland and Czechoslovakia like during the 1970s and 1980s?
- 📝 Why did the Byzantines not try to recover Syria during the war between Ali and Muawiya?
- 📝 Did Mao Zedong and Chinese communists collude with the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War?
- 📝 Who captured Kaifeng from the Jin during the war between Jin and the Sung Mongol alliance?
- 📝 How did the Apollo-Soyuz test project affect the relationship between the USSR and USA during the cold war?
- 📝 How did messages get back and forth between ship and shore during the Battle of Cherbourg?
- 📝 How did the primary means of communication between the British government in Delhi and UK change during WW2?
- 📝 Why was there such tension between the Ottoman Empire and Russia during the Armenian genocide?
- 📝 Was there regular contact by the general population between the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic during the second half of the 17th Century?
- 📝 What laws governed the Punjab under British rule during the Board of Administration between 1849 and 1853?
- 📝 Was there a direct telephone line between Stalin and Hitler during the war?
- 📝 What were the differences between the Waffen SS and the Wehrmacht in their role during the war?
- 📝 Was there intermixing between Brits and Hong Kongers during Britain's control of the territory?
- 📝 When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- 📝 Has there ever been a cold war other than between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.?
- 📝 In the "Christmas truce" of 1914 were there any football (soccer) matches between British and German troops?
- 📝 Why weren't pickled fruits and vegetables part of (European) rations during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
- 📝 What is the difference between the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages?
- 📝 Did Churchill and Roosevelt know about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, or the following secret pacts between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union?
- 📝 During the Great Depression, did the US Army do a study involving paying people to dig a hole and fill it back up?
- 📝 How to explain the apparent discrepancy in the use of papyrus vs. clay tablets between Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia?
- 📝 How and why was the boundary between West and East Berlin decided to be where it was?
- 📝 How was the modern geographic boundary between Europe and Asia decided?
- 📝 What was the shortest time between a historical event occuring and a museum opening dedicated to said event?
- 📝 What is the earliest evidence of contact between Ireland and Egypt?
- 📝 How long did it take for a diplomat to travel between Berlin and Vienna in the 1770's?