Jakarta. Culture Minister Fadli Zon said the government's controversial project to rewrite the country's national history remains on track for publication this month, with the final manuscripts undergoing revisions to photographs and page layouts.

Fadli said the 10-volume history project is nearing completion, although the ministry is still trying to obtain original photographs and secure the intellectual-property rights needed to use them.

"I am targeting August, but there are still some photographs that we have not obtained, particularly original photographs, and this is also related to intellectual property rights," Fadli told reporters at the Culture Ministry in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The ministry has worked with institutions holding historical archives to obtain the required images, including state news agency Antara and other organizations with collections of historical documentation.

"The photos are still a slight obstacle, while the layout is already underway and is perhaps almost finished," Fadli said.

The government plans to launch the revised history books around Aug. 17, when Indonesia marks the 81st anniversary of its independence. Fadli acknowledged that the August launch remains a target rather than a guaranteed deadline.

"Its target is August. Hopefully, it will not be delayed," he said.

Controversial Rewrite
The project has attracted controversy since the government launched its effort to revise Indonesia's official historical narrative, with historians and human rights groups questioning whether sensitive episodes and past abuses will receive adequate treatment.

The project was initially scheduled for release on Aug. 17, 2025, but was postponed following criticism over the draft and the government's approach to sensitive historical events.

One of the most contentious issues has been the treatment of sexual violence during the May 1998 riots, which accompanied the collapse of President Suharto's 32-year authoritarian rule.

Fadli came under heavy criticism in 2025 after questioning the term "mass rape" used to describe the sexual violence reported during the unrest. He said he acknowledged that sexual violence occurred but argued that claims of mass rape required further legal and historical evidence. 

The government's position has drawn criticism because an official independent fact-finding team, known as the Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF), documented widespread sexual violence during the 1998 unrest. Its report recorded 52 verified rape victims, along with cases of rape involving physical violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment in Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya. 

Human rights groups have warned that excluding or downplaying such episodes could amount to erasing documented abuses from the country's official historical record. Amnesty International Indonesia, for example, has criticized the project over concerns that its emphasis on a more positive historical narrative could obscure serious human rights violations. 

The controversy has also centered on Fadli's stated preference for a historical narrative that strengthens national unity and avoids deepening ethnic and communal divisions. The minister has argued that the project is intended to provide a more comprehensive account of Indonesia's past while promoting national cohesion.

The ministry has said the new history is being prepared with the involvement of historians and academics and is intended to update Indonesia's national historical narrative based on scholarly research.

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