KAMI (Indonesia)

rdf:langString KAMI (Indonesia)

rdf:langString KAMI, derived from the Indonesia Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Indonesia ("Indonesian Students Action Union") was an Indonesian anti-communist group formed on 27 October 1965. It consisted of Islamic, Catholic, and former Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI) members. KAMI and other anti-communist student groups were backed by the Indonesian National Armed Forces and organised anti-Sukarno protests which helped strengthen general Suharto's position following the abortive coup attempt that led to the downfall of Indonesian founding president Sukarno. Following the killing of two student demonstrators outside the Presidential Palace in February 1966, Sukarno officially banned KAMI. This was, however, ignored by the students and their supporters and backers within the military forces and the Indonesian National Police. Similar groups formed at this time of retaliation against Communists (who had been blamed for the coup attempt) included a high school students' front, KAPPI (Kesatuan Aksi Pelajar Pemuda Indonesia, "Indonesian Youth and Students' Action Front"), and a university graduates' front, KASI (Kesatuan Aksi Sarjana Indonesia, "Indonesia Universities' Alumni Action Front"). These two groups were formed in early 1966 and had a core made up of members of the Muslim group Masyumi and the then-banned Indonesian Socialist Party. KAMI was the public organization that presented the Three Demands of the People (Tritura) on an anti-Sukarno rally in front of the People's Consultative Assembly at the Merdeka Building in Bandung on January 10, 1966.