Minister of Culture, Fadli Zon, has announced a major revision of Indonesia’s historical narrative, particularly focusing on the Dutch colonial period, aimed at shifting the emphasis from a prolonged narrative of colonization to one that highlights the enduring spirit of resistance by the Indonesian people.

According to Fadli, the commonly cited claim that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 350 years is misleading and oversimplified.

“That mindset needs to change. There was no such thing as 350 years of continuous colonization in Indonesia. We resisted the colonizers throughout that time,” he said during a meeting in South Jakarta on Tuesday evening, May 6, 2025.

He pointed out that various regions across the archipelago, such as Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, engaged in long-standing resistance against Dutch forces.

“There were resistance movements that lasted for 200 years, some for decades. So, instead of focusing on how long we were colonized, we should highlight how long we fought back,” he added.

Fadli emphasized that the revision is necessary due to a general lack of awareness among Indonesians about their own history. He believes that promoting historical literacy from prehistoric times to the modern era is crucial for national identity.

“We need to intensify historical education − from prehistory, proto-history, to modern history,” he said. “The real question is, why are we afraid of our history? History is a part of our past. If we want to understand today, we must look to the past.”

The updated historical narrative is targeted for completion by August or September and will be distributed to schools across the country. It will be published in a multi-volume printed edition, covering key historical periods including contemporary political developments.

Approximately 100 historians are contributing to this initiative, led by Professor Susanto Zuhdi, a senior historian at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Indonesia.

This is not the first time Indonesia has undertaken a national history revision. The original Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (National History of Indonesia) was published in 1984 and later supplemented in 2012 with Indonesia Dalam Arus Sejarah (Indonesia in the Flow of History). The current revision comes 13 years after the last update, aiming to better reflect the complexity and richness of the nation’s past.