| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
Anti-communist groups to stage rival symposium on 1965-66 massacres
Jakarta Globe - May 14, 2016
The "National Symposium on the 1965 Tragedy" was held by the government last month to hear the country's political elite, as well as their critics and human rights activists, talk about how the Joko Widodo government should deal with what has been dubbed the worst mass killing of the 20th century.
President Joko Widodo had promised during his presidential campaign in 2014 that his government will find resolutions for past human rights abuses, the 1965-66 communist pogrom being one of them.
A military-backed purge against the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and its sympathizers in 1965-66 killed between 500,000 to one million suspected communists and paved the way for the rise of former President Suharto's New Order regime.
Retired army general Budi Sujana, chairman of the State Defense Movement group, said dozens of mass organizations will stage a symposium of their own on June 1-2. "We need to defend the official state ideology Pancasila. Communism has no place in this country," said Budi at Balai Kartini in Jakarta.
"Who were the real victims of the 1965 tragedy? Do you think the seven army generals buried in the Lubang Buaya well were not victims?" said Japto Soelistyo Soerjosoemarno, chairman of Pemuda Pancasila.
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu told reporters communism is still "a latent danger," and warned that the public should refrain from unwittingly promoting the ideology by wearing or distributing communist-related accessories and memorabilia.
"Speaking as a minister, I want to keep the peace between everyone. Please, do not make any provocation by wearing or distributing communist-related memorabilia," Ryamizard said.
Overeager officers?
President Joko Widodo meanwhile has asked police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti and the Indonesian military, or TNI, chief Gatot Nurmantyo not to overreact to the so-called resurgence of leftist ideologies and respect the principle of freedom of speech as mandated by a People's Consultative Assembly resolution released in 2013.
"Some police and military officers have been overeager in following the president's earlier instruction to keep watch on the possible spread of communism," said Presidential Palace spokesman Johan Budi SP, as quoted by state-news agency Antara.
See also:
 |