Warta Bhakti

Last updated

Warta Bhakti (Indonesian: loyal news) was a short-lived but influential left-wing news publication in Indonesia during the Guided Democracy period, which was a successor to the most read Chinese Indonesian newspaper of the Dutch East Indies, Sin Po. During the height of its popularity in the mid-1960s the paper had the second highest circulation of any newspaper in Indonesia. [1]

Contents

History

During Guided Democracy period

Warta Bhakti was the successor to a previous Indonesian language newspaper, Pantja Warta, which itself had been a renamed version of the long-lasting Chinese Indonesian newspaper Sin Po, founded in 1910. Meanwhile, Sin Po's Chinese language edition Xin Bao (and all other Chinese language newspapers in Indonesia) had been closed by the government of Indonesia in 1958 after a failed regional rebellion in Sumatra which the government believed to have been supported by Taiwan, and due to widespread anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia at that time. [2]

The supremacy of Indonesian nationalism after the end of the Dutch East Indies put pressure on Indonesian Chinese newspapers to appoint more pribumi Indonesians to their staff and to give up their traditional China orientation for one that was based on loyalty to Indonesia. [2]

During the Guided Democracy period in Indonesia (1959 to 1966), President Sukarno greatly restricted press freedom and demanded oaths of loyalty from newspaper owners and editors. [3] Some papers that refused to sign were shut down, such as Abadi and Pedoman. [3] However, Warta Bhakti was an ally of Sukarno and its editor Karim Daeng Patombong was a leading force in the Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia (PWI, Indonesian: Indonesian Journalists' Association). [3]

It was only in 1963 that the Indonesian government allowed the Chinese-language version of Warta Bhakti to resume publication, under the new name Zhongcheng Bao rather than its old name Xin Bao. [2] This new version of the paper regularly displayed its loyalty to Sukarno by printing his speeches and thoughts on the front page every day. [2]

The newspaper remained quite popular and a 1964 US Government report estimated its circulation in July of that year as 45,000. [4]

The paper involved itself vigorously in national politics in Indonesia on behalf of left-wing and anti-imperialist causes. For example, in 1963 it declared itself fully in support of Sukarno's policy of Konfrontasi towards neighboring Malaysia. [5] And in 1965 the paper declared its support for the creation of a national fifth column of popular mobilization to defend from outside interference. [6] By 1965 conservative elements in the Indonesian Army were worried that the media in Indonesia was thoroughly dominated by left-wing newspapers such as Harian Rakjat and Warta Bhakti. [3]

Forced closure of newspaper

Warta Bhakti was closed down by Indonesian authorities during the Transition to the New Order period by General Suharto in 1965. The paper was accused of being sympathetic to the 30 September Movement by elements of the Indonesian Communist Party and was therefore closed by official order. [7] Among the actions taken by the newspaper during the period of 30 September Movement were printing front page comments of support for the coup by Air Force Commander Omar Dani. [8]

Some of the editors became political prisoners, such as Djoni Sitompul. [9] Warta Bhakti editor Karim Daeng Patombong was replaced as head of the now restructured journalism association by an army brigadier general, [10] and the paper director Ang Jan Goan emigrated to Canada in 1968. Many other directors, editors and journalists in the Chinese and left-wing press were sent to Buru Island at this time. [2]

After 1966, by decree of the new Suharto government, all Chinese-language newspapers and other signs of Chinese culture were banned (excepting the official government publication Yindunixiya Ribao ). [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Indonesia</span> Political system of Indonesia

The politics of Indonesia take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic whereby the President of Indonesia is both head of state and head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the bicameral People's Consultative Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukarno</span> 1st president of Indonesia from 1945 to 1967

Sukarno was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suharto</span> 2nd president and military dictator of Indonesia (1921–2008)

Suharto was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto led Indonesia through a dictatorship for 31 years, from the fall of Sukarno in 1967 until his own resignation in 1998. The legacy of his 31-year rule, and his US$38 billion net worth, is still debated at home and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. H. Lukman</span> Indonesian politician (1920 – 1965)

Muhammad Hatta Lukman was an Indonesian communist politician, who served as the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), and a member of the People's Representative Council from 1956 until 1959. He was executed following the 1965 crackdown on the PKI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transition to the New Order</span> Period of Indonesian history, 1966–1967

Indonesia's transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s ousted the country's first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's 31-year presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">30 September Movement</span> 1965 Indonesian military faction that attempted a coup

The Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian National Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état, resulting in the unofficial but more accurate name of Gestok, for Gerakan Satu Oktober, or First of October Movement. Later that morning, the organisation declared that it was in control of media and communication outlets and had taken President Sukarno under its protection. By the end of the day, the coup attempt had failed in Jakarta. Meanwhile, in central Java there was an attempt to take control over an army division and several cities. By the time this rebellion was put down, two more senior officers were dead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Dhani</span> Former Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Air Force

Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Omar Dhani was commander of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) from 1962 until 1965. He was a leading leftist figure in Indonesia during the Sukarno era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amir Machmud</span> Indonesian military general (1923-1995)

Amir Machmud was an Indonesian military general who was an eyewitness to the signing of the Supersemar document transferring power from President Sukarno to General Suharto.

Lubang Buaya is the suburb on Cipayung, East Jakarta, Indonesia which is also the site of the murder of seven Indonesian army officers during the 1 October coup attempt of the 30 September Movement. It is located on the outskirts of Jakarta near the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base.

This is a list of activities carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66</span> Anti-communist killings and unrest in Indonesia following a coup détat attempt

The Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66, also known as the Indonesian genocide, Indonesian Communist Purge, or Indonesian politicide, were large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Other affected groups included communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, alleged "unbelievers" and alleged leftists. It is estimated that between 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were killed during the main period of violence from October 1965 to March 1966. The atrocities were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Untung Syamsuri</span>

Lieutenant Colonel Untung bin Syamsuri was one of the leaders of the 1965 coup attempt in Indonesia known as the 30 September Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tjakrabirawa Regiment</span> Military unit

The Tjakrabirawa Regiment was the presidential bodyguard unit of the former Indonesian President Sukarno. It was disbanded in 1966 because of its involvement in the coup attempt of the 30 September Movement.

Censorship in Indonesia has varied since the country declared its independence in 1945. For most of its history the government of Indonesia has not fully allowed free speech and has censored controversial, critical, or minority viewpoints, and during periods of crackdown it imprisoned writers and political activists. However, partly due to the weakness of the state and cultural factors, it has never been a country with full censorship where no critical voices were able to be printed or voiced.

<i>Sin Po</i> (newspaper) Former Indonesian newspaper

Sin Po was a Peranakan Chinese Malay-language newspaper published in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It expressed the viewpoint of Chinese nationalism and defended the interests of Chinese Indonesians and was for several decades one of the most widely read Malay newspapers in the Indies. It existed under various names until 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Jan Goan</span> Chinese Indonesian newspaper editor and nationalist (1894–1984)

Ang Jan Goan was an Indonesian Chinese journalist, publisher and political thinker, and director of the influential newspaper Sin Po from 1925 to 1959.

Oloan Hutapea, also known as B. O. Hutapea, was a high-ranking member of the Indonesian Communist Party and one of its major theoreticians during the height of its power, and was leader of a clandestine wing of the party in 1967-8 during the Transition to the New Order.

Keng Po was a Malay language Peranakan Chinese newspaper published in Batavia, Dutch East Indies from 1923 to 1958. During most of that time it was the second-most popular Malay-language Chinese newspaper in the Indies after Sin Po. It was also an important paper in the early period of Indonesian independence in the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B.M. Diah</span> Indonesian politician and diplomat (1917–1996)

Burhanuddin Mohammad Diah, born only as Burhanuddin, was an Indonesian journalist, diplomat, and businessman, who served as the 18th Indonesian Minister of Information from 1966 until 1968, under the presidencies of Sukarno and Suharto, during the transition to the New Order. He was present at the time of the Proclamation of Independence was being formulated, and was a figure who played an important role in saving the original text of the Proclamation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Koesnapsijah</span>

Sri Koesnapsijah was a Javanese language writer and activist of the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia who was among the generation of Indonesian women writers active in the 1930s. She was known for her short stories and articles which she published in the magazine Panjebar Semangat in the 1930s and 1940s, where she was also an assistant editor. After Indonesian independence she was active in the Communist Party-affiliated Gerwani movement, and was briefly a representative of the Communist Party in the Jakarta-area consultative body DPR-GR. She was arrested in late 1965 during the anti-communist repression of the Transition to the New Order and imprisoned without charge for the following decade.

References

  1. ↑ Roosa, John (2020). Buried histories : the anticommunist massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 49. ISBN   9780299327309.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sun, Wanning (2009). Media and the Chinese Diaspora: Community, Communications and Commerce. Routledge. pp. 95–6. ISBN   9781134263592.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Roosa, John (2020). Buried histories : the anticommunist massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 47. ISBN   9780299327309.
  4. ↑ Area Handbook for Indonesia. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1964. p. 242.
  5. ↑ "Tolerantie". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). July 24, 1963. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  6. ↑ "Twee linkse bladen in Indonesië keuren Vijfde colonne goed". Het vrije volk : democratisch-socialistisch dagblad. July 7, 1965. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  7. ↑ Setiono, Benny G. (2008). Tionghoa Dalam Pusaran Politik. Jakarta: TransMedia. p. 424. ISBN   9789797990527.
  8. ↑ "Bezette Stad". Algemeen Handelsblad (in Dutch). October 4, 1965. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  9. ↑ Roosa, John (2020). Buried histories : the anticommunist massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia. University of Wisconsin Press. p. xii. ISBN   9780299327309.
  10. ↑ Roosa, John (2020). Buried histories : the anticommunist massacres of 1965-1966 in Indonesia. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 53. ISBN   9780299327309.
  11. ↑ Sun, Wanning (2009). Media and the Chinese Diaspora: Community, Communications and Commerce. Routledge. p. 97. ISBN   9781134263592.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.