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"It is imperative that the President does not steal the wealth of our motherland and the freedom of our people"
-Former Indonesian Vice President, Mohammad Hatta following his resignation
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“Like many third-world nations during the Cold War, Indonesia was seen as a powder keg ready to burst. The council of generals plotted against their enemies while the Islamists and the communists fought over the working class. The Islamists tended to gain more support amongst the richer peasants and landowners who viewed the communists as a threat to their well-being and social status. The poorer peasants and industrial workers tended to lean on the communist side as they saw the PKI as their only path to prosperity. However, many uneducated farmers could not even tell the difference between Islamism and Communism [1].
To reduce the power of the Islamists, the PKI began to turn their supporters against the richer peasants. Aidit’s ideology was remarkably similar to Mao Zedong’s, viewing capitalism as a different form of feudalism. There were the landowners who employed the poor peasants and the rich peasants who owned the land on which they toiled. During his life, he had also studied the anti-kulak programs utilized by Stalin to stamp out dissident in the Soviet Union and used these same tactics against his political opponents. While anti-communist leaders often protested Aidit’s fight for class struggle, Sukarno insisted that the PKI should serve as a counterweight against the Islamists who dare rebel against him during the Darul Islam rebellion.
Aidit voiced plans for the PKI to serve as a counterweight against the ambitions of his generals through the creation of a fifth fighting force. In his mind, this fighting force would be deployed to fight civil unrest, revolt, or invasion, similar to the Combat Groups of the Working Class in East Germany. In Sukarno’s mind, the armed peasants could keep his more ambitious generals in check, many of whom he distrusted and disliked. Interestingly enough, Aidit’s calls for the people to arm themselves would come after returning from a trip to China. Could it be that the Chinese had discovered some sort of infiltration by the CIA and M16? Sukarno certainly thought so and voiced his support for the fifth fighting force [2].
His secretary of defense, Abdul Nasution protested Aidit’s plans, insisting that it was no more than a ploy for the Chinese to undermine the nation. After all, the majority of funding had come from the People’s Republic. But soon, his cries would fall on deaf ears, and he was quickly replaced by Pranoto Reksosamodra, who was seen as much more tolerable in the eyes of the PKI. Sukarno’s sacking of Nasution was his way of removing the more “reactionary” members of the nationalist wing as Nasution was often unwilling to compromise with left-wing elements. In fact, it had been Nasution who convinced Sukarno to call off future elections to curb the PKI’s rapid growth.
The other reason why Nasution’s sacking was accepted was because he had made to many enemies within the army. General Ahmad Yani was upset by Nasution’s hardline stance on communism and his views on Nasakom. Although Yani did not have much respect amongst his peers, many members of the army were still diehard Sukarno loyalists and supporters of Nasakom. As a result, Nasution began to fire commanders that had close relations with Yani and replace them with members from the national party. This rebellious attitude against the government would inspire many other officers to distance themselves from Soekarno, angering the president greatly. On 1967, the Worker’s Milita (Milisi Kaum Buruh or MIKABUR) was created under the command of Sakirman, the head of the Bureau of Struggle and a PKI member. The nationalists protested, believing it to be an attempt to undermine the army. Eventually, their fears would be proven right and revolution would come to Indonesia, albeit, not a communist one.”
-Indonesia: A History of the Nusantara Archipelago by David Toddhunter
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People take to the streets demanding that President Sukarno disband the PKI
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“During the last days before the revolution, Indonesia had slowly slipped into decline, corruption, and economic mismanagement that would wound the region for years to come. In the president Palace, lavish parties would be held, and there, Soekarno could be seen gifting elaborate presents to his future wives. While children were starving on the streets of Jakarta, Soekarno was allowing his country to be consumed by flames both politically and economically. He paid little to no attention to the rampant corruption within the government as all three of his factions continued to jockey for power, sometimes violently.
In only five years, the rupiah had inflated by over 750%, while some prices would increase by 50% weekly [3]. To continue his fruitless attempts to fill his citizens with patriotism, Indonesia would involve itself in pointless wars in Malaysia, Brunei, and New Guinea. His fights against “the forces of imperialism” would only provoke the hornet’s nest that was SEATO. At home, his country was wracked with poverty as he was unwilling or unable to provide adequate solutions to repair the economy. Succession movements in Minahasa, Papua, and the Moluccas rose against the republic as ethnic tensions began to boil over. In short, Soekarno’s reign was a far cry from the free Indonesia he had spoken of.
The hallmarks of peace, equity, and social justice had been cast aside to make way for his personal kingdom. It soon became clear that Soekarno’s regime could only be held together through careful cooperation with the Eastern bloc. Meanwhile, his cooperation with the communist party had been disguised as his way of reaching out to the people, when in reality, it was his way of appeasing the Soviets and Chinese in exchange for arms and aid. This would be proven true after appointing Sudisman, a member of the communist party to the position of Foreign Secretary.
While the PKI kept their supporters loyal to the Pancasila, the people were growing discontent at Sukarno’s unwillingness to resolve the issues at hand. Anti-government rebels such as Abdul Kahar Muzakkar to gain power under the banner of the Islamic State [4]. While the Darul Islam rebellion had been declared dead with the assassination of Sekarmadji Kartosoewirjo, Sukarno’s misrule allowed the movement to grown once more. By 1967, Muzakkar’s territories had expanded from Maluku to Java, posing an ever-present threat to Sukarno’s regime. In an effort to retain his goodwill with the common people, the president would often make public appearances to ensure his citizens that everything would be alright.
But the people did not see the shining leader who had fought for their freedoms, they saw an ill man whose face had become bloated by disease and corpulence. His famed promiscuity and eccentricities, which had once endeared him to the people, now turned them against him. One day on December 10th, 1969, it had been revealed that Sukarno was traveling to China for a series of secret meetings. Perhaps he traveled to discuss the possibility of infiltration by western intelligence or requested further funding for his worker’s militia. But the people refused to see it that way [5]. The President, who lived as a Maharaja while they starved, had left the country to appease his foreign masters. And so, they took to the streets, rising up against injustice, oppression, and the false god who ruled them.”
-Intifada: A History of Global Democracy, Jamaal Kadivar
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Abdul Kahar Muzakkar, Imam of the Islamic State of Indonesia following 1966
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“I spent my childhood learning America is good because they fought with us against the Belanda. But in the
konfrantasi with Malaysia, everyone was afraid that one day, America would come into our country, kill Bung Karno, kill Indonesia, and kill our people. But later, we did not need to worry about the last part, Sukarno was already killing our people for America *laughs. Today, you see America giving food to hungry people and refugee in Indonesia, but in the past, we had no aid. Sukarno say that America is a traitor for supporting the Permesta. Our hunger is the sacrifice for
kemerdekaan, he say,
kemerdekaan from capitalism and imperialism.
In truth, everyone knows that Sukarno keep all the money for himself and his… harem. So what do we do,
pemuda with no food, no money? We steal. In English, you call me “thug” or “gangster”, but we do not steal for ourself, we steal for our people who become hungry while government become fat and corrupt. One day a PKI man ask me, if I love my country, why do I not join Mikabur. I say to him, “I want to become
kommunis like you, I will move to China and starve there instead”. PKI believe they will own us by giving food and money. As Sukarno say, “To hell with your aid!”
After the Mikabur hunt us, our leaders start talking about the Quran and Allah, how our lives are full of sin, and we must fight for Imam Muzakkar and Islamic State. Of course, they still smoke ganja and drink beer, they are still
pemuda. At first, I think they are fools for joining Darul Islam, but then, I realized, why fight against Indonesia when it is us who will change Indonesia. When the Belanda beat us, we rise against them and make a new country for us. Now it is Sukarno who beats us, with his
kommunis dogs. Of course, you American do not forget about us. Sukarno stop America from giving aid to his people, but we are not Sukarno’s people. I remember when we march on the streets against Sukarno with your M16. “Down with Sukarno!” we say. “Down with China, down with the
kommunis, long live Darul Islam!”
-Adam bin Suparman recalls joining the Darul Islam rebellion
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PKI Chairman Aidit delivers a speech to the Worker's Militia, calling for action against the Darul Islam movement
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[1] From a CIA report made on the Darul Islam rebellion in Indonesia during 1961
[2] Sukarno, Aidit, and Chairman Mao did support a fifth fighting force consisting of workers and peasants IOTL
[3] All of these statistics are from OTL
[4] Abdul Kahar Muzakkar was the leader of the South Sulawesi branch of the Darul Islam movement before being killed by Corporal Sadeli of the Indonesian Army
[5] In November 1964, Sukarno did travel to China for secret meetings during the Konfrontasi against Malaysia
