The Fall of Suharto in Indonesia
The History Hour
BBC
4.4 • 913 Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2018
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1998, the Indonesian dictator, President Suharto, resigned after 31 years in power. He stood down in the wake of nationwide demonstrations sparked by the killing of four student protestors. We hear from Bhatara Ibnu Reza, who was with one of the students when he died.
Plus, how a Pakistani theatre company took on the dictatorship of General Zia ul-Huq; the landmark Holocaust documentary Shoah; and the day lesbian protestors targeted the BBC news studio.
Photo: Students celebrate outside the Parliamentary buildings, Jakarta after Indonesian President Suharto announced his resignation. Credit: Adam Butler/PA
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson, |
| 0:05.0 | the past brought to life by those who were there. |
| 0:08.2 | Coming up, the Making of the Film Shower, a landmark documentary on the Holocaust. |
| 0:13.7 | You feel that you have an obligation to the survivor you just met, you have an obligation |
| 0:18.6 | to his family that was murdered and an obligation to yourself to document it. |
| 0:24.0 | Also we've got provocative political theatre challenging Sharia law in 1980s Pakistan. |
| 0:30.0 | Without art, you don't have hope. |
| 0:34.0 | It allows for people to claim a space that is against the death cult of extremism. |
| 0:41.0 | Plus the moment when lesbian protesters attacked the BBC's main news bulletin |
| 0:46.0 | and the incomparable work of the BBC's monitoring service based at Cabersham since |
| 0:50.3 | 1943. Of course it was immensely exciting and I shouted and everybody switched over to that |
| 0:56.7 | wavelength and it was swearing from Krosic saying I have a |
| 1:01.4 | in the euleng meaning saying I have been all in de laude, de Vauen needed to leag. |
| 1:04.0 | Meaning that all the troops had been ordered to lay down arms. |
| 1:08.0 | And of course that was the word we were waiting for, |
| 1:11.0 | all. |
| 1:12.0 | The end of the Second World War as listened to by the BBC's monitoring service. |
| 1:16.7 | That's coming up later in the podcast. |
| 1:18.2 | But for our first story this week, we take you back to the 21st of May 1998 when the Indonesian dictator |
| 1:25.9 | President Suharto stood down after days of rioting across the country. |
| 1:29.8 | The Republic of Indonesia is made up of more than 13,000 islands stretched between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. |
| 1:37.0 | It has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, and it's always been seen as strategically important. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.