A.H. Nasution’s Fraught Ties with the PKI

Nasution was determined to block the PKI. But after retirement, he quietly aided the children of its leaders.

Erwan Hermawan

August 18, 2025

ONE afternoon in late 1960, the car carrying Deputy Speaker of the Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (MPRS), Dipa Nusantara Aidit, sped toward the State Palace in Jakarta. Suddenly, another vehicle swerved past sharply. Aidit’s wife, Soetanti, made a quip. “That’s the kind of overtaking Nasution would do,” said their son, Iwan Hignasto, recalling his mother’s words in a special interview with Temp

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