Communism was first introduced in Indonesia in the 1920s by socialist intellectuals and activists.
The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was founded in 1920 and became the largest political party in Indonesia in the 1960s.
In 1965, the Indonesian government carried out military operations to overthrow the PKI and killed hundreds of thousands of people suspected of being involved in the communist movement.
Although the PKI is prohibited by the Indonesian government, there are still small groups that identify themselves as communists in Indonesia.
One of the famous figures in the history of Indonesian communism is Tan Malaka, a revolutionary and intellectual who was active in the early 20th century.
Before becoming President of Indonesia, Sukarno was a nationalist leader and was also supported by the PKI.
During the New Order period (1966-1998), the Indonesian government forbids all forms of activities related to communism and censoring books that are considered to contain these ideologies.
Nevertheless, some Indonesian artists and writers such as Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Denny JA have a critical view of the government and voiced their support for communist ideology.
In 2016, the Indonesian government forbade the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) organization because it was considered a threat to the state and was suspected of having relations with groups that promoted communist ideology.
Although communism is no longer a popular ideology in Indonesia, there are still groups who try to fight for the principles of communism and socialism in Indonesia.
