MARK GREENE,
Madam, - While I am disgusted and shocked by the terrorist bombings in Bali, I am also surprised by the manner in which the recent history of Bali is being presented in the media.
For example, Miriam Donohoe (The Irish Times, October 14th) makes the claim that Bali "has until now escaped the religious and political violence that periodically erupts across predominantly Muslim Indonesia".
Right across the board I see the media describe Bali as a paradise lost, when in reality it was witness to one of the worst politically motivated pogroms of the last century. Tens of thousands of Balinese were slaughtered in the mid-1960s as part of Suharto's anti-communist drive which killed somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million Indonesians.
Suharto, a military dictator, enlisted the help of several right-wing Muslim extremist groups (perhaps the forerunners of the maniacs who have perpetrated this latest heinous crime) to achieve his goals. Crucially, he received tacit ideological support (and later, arms) from Western governments which openly welcomed the destruction of the communist threat.
Australians may be interested in the response of their prime minister at the time, Harold Holt. On July 6th, 1966, Holt was quoted in the New York Times as saying "With 500,000 to 1,000,000 Communist sympathizers knocked off, I think it is safe to assume a reorientation has taken place."
I do not raise this point to be pedantic; I merely believe that accurate historical and political contexts are crucial when attempting to sift through the conjecture that is sure to continue for weeks and months. - Yours, etc.,
MARK GREENE, Abbey Vale, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.