Indonesia has named former president Suharto a national hero, even as his controversial legacy as a dictator has sparked heated protests against the move.

During Suharto’s New Order regime in the 1960s to 1990s, Indonesia saw an era of rapid economic growth but also violent political repression. Hundreds of thousands of political dissenters were estimated to have been killed during that period.

The national hero award is an annual affair, meant to honour individuals for their contributions to the country.

On Monday, the late Suharto was among 10 new names added to the list, in a ceremony presided over by current Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto, Suharto’s former son-in-law.

In October, Indonesia’s social and culture ministries nominated nearly 50 candidates to the award – including Suharto.

Receiving the award on Monday at the state palace in Jakarta were Suharto’s children.

Suharto “rose to prominence during Indonesia’s independence period” and had “led the disarmament of Japanese troops” during a battle in Yogyakarta in 1945, said a voiceover in the presidential office’s livestream of the award ceremony.

But the honouring of Suharto as a national hero has been met with significant opposition from civil society.

Last week, around 100 people gathered in Jakarta to protest Suharto’s nomination, while nearly 16,000 have signed an online petition asking the same.

Another protest has been planned for today in Jakarta, and hundreds of security personnel have been deployed in anticipation of the demonstrations.

In an earlier statement, NGO Amnesty Indonesia said the move would be an attempt to “whitewash the sins of Suharto’s authoritian regime”, calling it an “attempt to distort history”.

The award of national hero status to former president Suharto was always going to be contentious; that it was conferred by Prabowo makes it doubly so. Both men have human rights records which are impossible to gloss over.

Suharto presided over a bloodbath when he seized power in 1965, a chaotic episode in Indonesia’s history in which at least half a million alleged communists were murdered.

His three decades in power were marked by torture, disappearances and repression of civil liberties; his invasion of East Timor 50 years ago was one of the most brutal military operations of the Cold War era.

Yet there is no question that Suharto’s long rule shaped modern Indonesia. Notwithstanding his readiness to use brute force, his main focus was bringing development and stability to his country.

And despite high levels of corruption, he was largely successful.

Indonesia’s economy grew at an average of 7% every year during his three decades in power, while inflation went from more than 600% in 1966 to around 10% in 1997.

Indonesia is now South East Asia’s largest economy.

The title Suharto took greatest pride in was “Bapak Pembangunan”, or father of development. However, he has been accused of embezzling billions of dollars while in power.

In 1998, when Suharto finally faced overwhelming opposition during the financial crisis, he gave his country the gift of stepping down and allowing a relatively peaceful transition.

Today, many Indonesians may remember the positive sides of Suharto’s rule more than the negatives. He received a state funeral when he died in 2008, aged 86.

For more than a decade, Suharto’s supporters have rallied to designate him a national hero. But these efforts sputtered because of Suharto’s controversial legacy.

Last year, the election of Prabowo, his former son-in-law, brought concerns of historical revisionism.

Prabowo praised the former dictator’s regime during his election victory speech. Since then, his administration has tried to publish new history books that critics say downplay atrocities during the New Order era.

Prabowo, himself a former military general, was accused of rights abuses and war crimes under the Suharto regime.

He is most notorious for allegations he commanded a unit which abducted and tortured several democracy activists during the dying days of the Suharto regime in the late 1990s. Of the 23, some survived, one died and 13 remain missing.

Also honoured on Monday were Indonesia’s fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid – known locally as Gus Dur – and labour activist Marsinah – both opponents of Suharto. The decision to award the same national hero title to them may sugar the pill for human rights campaigners.

Marsinah, an activist and factory worker, was kidnapped and killed in 1993. Her death became a symbol of the struggle for workers’ rights in Indonesia and the repression under Suharto’s rule.

Gus Dur, who died in 2009, had a famously rocky relationship with Suharto. He was known have challenged the criticised Suharto publicly – while maintaining pragmatic cooperation. For many years he was a liberal voice of tolerance and an advocate for a more democratic Indonesia.

Additional reporting by Astudestra Ajengrastri