Abstract
The role of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in the killings of approximately 500,000 leftists in 1965-66 was not a particularly sensitive issue within NU circles for the duration of the anti-communist New Order regime (1966-1998). Just two years after the fall of the regime, however, young members of NU founded the NGO Syarikat, (Masyarakat Santri untuk Advokasi Rakyat, Muslim Community for Social Advocacy) aimed specifically at re-examining NU's role in this violence and improving relations between members of NU and former leftists. This paper explains the reason for this dramatic move and critically examines how Syarikat have fared in this project. It examines a wider process of reform in NU commencing in 1984 that was crucial to opening up discussion of this issue. The paper also analyses Syarikat's aims and achievements and probes the tensions between their joint aims of advocacy for victims and producing new versions of history. Their decision to confront one of the most delicate topics in the history of NU has had a mixed reception from within NU and these responses provide an important barometer of the extent of commitment to reform and tolerance within NU. The paper also reflects on the broader picture of human rights advocacy in the post-Suharto era and related achievements and set backs in this field.
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