DN Aidit

Dipa Nusantara Aidit (July 30, 1923 - November 22, 1965) was one of the top leaders of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Born as Ahmad Aidit in Bangka Island, he was nicknamed "Amat" by people who are close to him. Aidit was raised on Dutch colonial education. He learned Marxist political theory through the Indies Social Democratic Association (later renamed as Communist Party of Indonesia).

Though a Marxist and a member of Comintern, Aidit submitted to Sukarno's Marhaenism [1] policy and allow the party to grow without any overt intentions towards power. In return for his support for Sukarno, he rose to the position of Secretary-General of the PKI. Under his administration, the party became the 3rd largest Communist party in the world, behind those of the Soviet Union and China. He set up a number of programs for the people: Pemuda Rakyat for the youth, Gerwani as a women's league of sorts.

During the campaign for the election of 1955, Aidit and the PKI drew a large following, due to their many programs for lower-class Indonesians. In the next decade, the PKI became a leftist counterbalance to conservative elements among the Muslim political parties and the Army, in an almost Jeffersonian vs. Hamiltonian dichotomy.

By 1965, the PKI had become the largest political party in Indonesia, and Aidit became bolder in overtures towards power. After the mysterious supposed Communist party coup d'etat of September 30, 1965 (G30S Movement), Aidit fled to Yogyakarta, where he would later be hunted and killed by pro-government forces under General Suharto. Anti-Communist suspicion ran rampant and many people used red-baiting to settle personal scores with Aidit, reminiscent of McCarthy-era America. With the death of Aidit, the influence of Communism in Indonesia would be non-existent until the present day.

Some of his writings were published as The Selected Works of D.N. Aidit (2 vols.; Washington: US Joint Publications Research Service, 1961).

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