History as a Tool of Liberation

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Historian Prof. Asvi Warman Adam (center) received a dedicated intellectual award during the celebration of the 55th anniversary of Kompas Daily in Jakarta, Sunday (28/6/28/2020). The award was given by the Chief Editor of Kompas Sutta Dharmasaputra.

For more than two decades, Asvi Warman Adam has consistently walked the path of "rectification" of Indonesian history; a path that is sometimes quiet, silent but can also be noisy. Threats have not dampened the steps of this political history professor of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, because he believes his scientific path, namely history, is a means of liberating collective mistakes of the past.

Shelves containing books seem to fill every corner of the living room in Asvi\'s house in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, West Java. Each shelf has a classification. There are shelves containing books about Sukarno, Chinese, English and French literature, and books about the events of 1965.

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Asvi is good at telling history, especially contemporary history. Whatever questions raised by Asvi were answered in detail and with full confidence on the basis of books and research that had been done.

"I love stories" Asvi said laughing during a conversation at his home in mid-June.

History is essentially a story. Now how is the story interesting, just like we read detective stories, so we follow the plot.

On that basis, he said that history would be very interesting if the narrative had a detective element. "Why, why, like this? That is interesting. There is an element of storytelling, there are elements of narratives that are not rigid. History is essentially a story. Now how is the story interesting, just like we read detective stories, so we follow the plot," Asvi said.

Refuse to forget

For Asvi, writing history is like refusing to forget. First, forget your own history. Second, also in oblivion.

In the Kompas archives of 1980-2020 there were 168 writing entries with the name of the author Asvi Warman Adam, ranging from reader letters, opinion pieces, to literature reviews. Most of the opinion articles written by Asvi related to conflict, human rights in the traces of contemporary history. The common thread of Asvi\'s writings is to try to straighten out certain fragments of history. The events of 1965 and the mass killings that followed were among the issues he frequently discussed.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Prof Dr Asvi Warman Adam - sejarawanKOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN (HAS)28-06-2020

In the article Mengendalikan Sejarah (Controlling History) which was published on Nov. 15, 1997, Asvi reminded that mastery of the past can help control the present. There are two ways of controlling history, namely by the addition of certain elements in history and by staying silent about history.

While in the article Pengendalian Sejarah demi Kekuasaan (Controlling History for Power) published on Jan. 1, 2000, Asvi said that the historical control strategy at the beginning of the New Order included two things, namely reducing Sukarno\'s role and exaggerating Soeharto\'s services.

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Asvi said, to be consistent in correcting history, a calm attitude was needed. He claimed he had never been angry and never cursed people when he found out the wrong historical facts. Because arrogance will bring resistance. In fact, criticism can be conveyed politely, a little joke that will make people reflect.

For him, history must be a tool for the remission of collective mistakes in the past.

However, historical straightening can also lead to terror. Asvi was terrorized through telephone and text message. He has also received death threats. However, it does not dampen his spirits. For him, history must be a tool for the remission of collective mistakes in the past. Instead of being used as legislation to beat or discriminate against certain groups.

Glory and trauma

Collective memories that reinforce conflict have a number of characteristics, namely associating insults, hatred and anger toward outsiders, and maintaining or reviving past traumatic events in present time based on selected trauma. On the other hand, there is also a collective memory of chosen glory, which is something that was ideal in the past (The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology, 2012).

Related to that, according to Asvi, to raise hope, people need to remember the glory of the past, the greatness of Sriwijaya and Majapahit. In addition, the achievements of the past in modern times. Indonesia, for example, successfully organized the Asian-African Conference, which inspired the independence of many countries. President Sukarno also gave a speech at the United Nations headquarters in 1960, sharing the values of state ideology Pancasila. Indonesia has also awakened after devastating events such as the 1997/1998 monetary crisis.

On the other hand, Indonesia also experienced a social revolution after 1945 besides a physical revolution. "We experienced a bloody tragedy in 1965/66 with victims of half a million lives and that caused deep trauma. The authorities stigmatized 65 victims and their families. I believe there will be a way out of this past human rights issue," Asvi said.

Asvi explained that he continued to write the history of 1965 based on scientific research and studies with the hope that there would be an improvement in public understanding.

Victims only need acknowledgement that it happened in the past as a mistake and that it was a mistake of the past by the state.

"The mass murder of 1965 was indeed difficult to solve because many were involved. However, there are actually things that are easy and can be solved by state policy. Victims only need acknowledgement that it happened in the past as a mistake and that it was a mistake of the past by the state," said Asvi who had been an expert witness of the 1965 people\'s tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Critical process

Asvi who had served as managing editor of Sportif magazine (1982-1983) changed courses to become a LIPI researcher in 1983. After that, he studied in France in 1984. During his six years studying in France, Asvi actively studied about Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In 1990, he returned to LIPI and examined Indo-China relations with ASEAN until 1998.

His study experiences in France helped shape the way Asvi learned history. He was active in historical studies with the nouvelle histoire approach (new sources, new methods and new perspectives) developed by the French historian Fernand Braudel.

In 1998, when the regime changed, Asvi began his struggle in the field of Indonesian history with the Indonesian Historian Society. At that time, he was head of education. Suddenly, Asvi was asked to deliver a speech in front of the victims of 1965 for the Kasut Peace Foundation. "I hadn\'t studied. So, what I said was fresh from the oven. In the evening, I read the book, in the morning I spoke, "Asvi recalled.

The meeting encouraged Asvi to explore the 1965 case. Asvi realized what was abundant at the time was oral history as data was very minimal, even non-existent. So, the research was done through interviews. He was careful not to get caught up in oral history, which gave someone a second chance; exaggerating their roles or eliminating their mistakes.

"So, I always read their memoirs with such a critical attitude," Asvi said.

Now, at almost 66 years of age, Asvi continues to play the role as a historical straightener. He chose the silent path to consistently straighten history.