The Beginning

Studying mammals’ fear in relation to their defence mechanisms, Arne Öhman and Susan Minerka argue: ‘Early and reliable recognition of the predator is a prerequisite for effective defense.’ Fear is part of mammalian evolution, and an important factor in survival. For this reason, the deployment of terror can be an effective means of dictating people's behaviour. When people are overwhelmed by fear, they tend either to be in paralysis, to fight, or to take flight. The response can be shaped by how people read the situation and, as such, this had been used by Soeharto to dictate the Indonesian public's reactions to his advantage.

The use of fear as a key strategy in politics is nothing new: the despotic methods of discipline and punishment supported by law are generally the key factors used by totalitarian regimes. However, as I was gathering the personal stories of the 1965 victims, it was not the law that most of my respondents were worried about; rather, personal reasons (such as pressure from families and relatives not to speak out) were of more concern. I will explain this in more detail below. Indonesia is one example of a nation in which the use of fear is so effective that it has become like a very dangerous virus that mutates, and in the end comes to be accepted as ‘natural’ by many people.

Almost like fear, viruses are unseen and most people are only aware of them because of public information. Soeharto and his allies implanted fear as widely as possible not only in the victims, but also in the perpetrators and at all levels of society. The murder of the generals at dawn on 1 October 1965 was used by Soeharto to start a rumour that the communists were responsible for this incident. Accounts about the brutality of the communists as well as about the sadistic promiscuity of the members of Gerwani (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia, or the Indonesian Women's Movement) were spread widely in order to arouse public fear. Gerwani was aligned with the PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or the Communist Party of Indonesia). Through these means, Soeharto and his allies effectively portrayed the communists and their allies as ‘monsters’.