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Anti-communist symposium slammed for misuse of groups' logos
Jakarta Post - June 3, 2016
The event, held on Wednesday and called "Protecting Pancasila from Threats from the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and Other Ideologies", was organized by several retired military generals to discuss warnings of a revival of the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and to uphold Pancasila as the state ideology.
The event's committee claimed the symposium was supported by dozens of mass organizations including GP Ansor, the youth wing of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the Catholic Students Union (PMKRI).
However, members of both organizations clarified that their logos had been used without permission.
Adung Abdul Rochman, the general-secretary of GP Ansor, said he received the invitation to attend the symposium a few days before the event. He was shocked to find a statement saying the event was supported by GP Ansor in the invitation letter.
"We object if suddenly we are considered to be one of the event's supporters. We don't know anything about its agenda or background," Adung said on Friday.
Angelo, the chairman of the PMKRI presidium, also expressed his objection to the use of the PMKRI's logo by the symposium's committee without the group's consent. The group planned to file a report to the police for that misuse.
The PMKRI had always recognized Pancasila as the state ideology, he said. However, he objected to an anti-PKI movement being used as a way to make others cooperate with right-wing extremist groups.
"Currently, we haven't seen any real threats from the PKI. On the contrary, the real threats that endanger this nation come from right-wing extremists or fundamentalist religious groups," Angelo said.
The anti-communist symposium was set up to challenge a previous symposium in April called "Dissecting the 1965 Tragedy", which brought together victims and families of the 1965 communist purge, human rights activists, academics and state officials to discuss how to resolve the long neglected case.
The retired generals and groups such as the Islam Defenders Front also urged the government not to offer a formal apology to the PKI and not to continue the reconciliation efforts started in a bid to settle the historic human rights abuse cases. There has not been any detailed plan from the government on how to resolve the 1965 political conflict and atone for the bloodshed. (vps/rin)
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