KAMI, derived from the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

''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 The Socialist Party of Indonesia ( id, Partai Sosialis Indonesia) was a political party in Indonesia from 1948 until 1960, when it was banned by President Sukarno. Origins In December 1945 Amir Sjarifoeddin's Socialist Party of Indonesia (Pars ...

(PSI) members. KAMI and other anti-communist student groups were backed by the

Indonesian National Armed Forces , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...

and organised anti-

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

protests which helped strengthen general

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, 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 '' , mottotranslated = (Serving the Nation) , formed = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = 440,000 (2020) , volunteers = , budget = , nongovernment ...

. 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 The Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations ( id, Partai Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia), better known as the Masyumi Party, was a major Islamic political party in Indonesia during the Liberal Democracy Era in Indonesia. It was banned in ...

and the then-banned

. 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 The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Politics of Indonesia, Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the membe ...

at the

Merdeka Building Merdeka Building (Indonesian: Gedung Merdeka) is an art-deco building in Jalan Asia-Afrika, Bandung, Indonesia. Today it serves as a museum displaying collections and photographs of the Asian–African Conference, the first Non-Aligned Movement e ...

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

on January 10, 1966.

References

* Ricklefs, M.C. (1991). ''A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Transition to the New Order Student political organizations Student organizations established in 1965 Anti-communist organizations Political organizations based in Indonesia {{Indonesia-org-stub