colonial and later authoritarian governments did not approve of pramoedya's writings. they often censored his writing in indonesia even though he was well known outside his home country. the dutch imprisoned him from 1947 to 1949 during the war of independence. during the coup when suharto gained power, pramoedya was involved in political fighting. suharto put him in prison from 1969 to 1979 on the maluku island called buru. suharto called pramoedya a communist. suharto thought pramoedya was still loyal to the sukarno government even though pramoedya had struggled with sukarno.