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Defense minister decries 'treasonous' rise of communism
Jakarta Post - May 14, 2016
"The leftist movement is currently surging in this country. It is a sign of treason, sponsored by the leftovers of the Indonesian Communist Party [PKI]," he said vehemently in his opening remarks.
Ryamizard was referring to the recent discovery by police and military officials of the use of communist symbolism across many forums nationwide – including at cultural events, public screenings, on shirts carrying the symbol of the now-defunct PKI, the hammer-and-sickle logo, in books about the party in many bookstores and at book exhibitions.
People found to be associated with communist symbolism have been arrested, while book confiscations have become commonplace in several cities, including Surakarta, Tegal and Grobogan in Central Java, a main base for PKI supporters.
Human rights advocates say the crackdowns and raids have only cast a shadow over the ongoing nationwide reconciliation process in relation to the 1965 purge, including the symposium in April that gathered the government, victims and families of victims of the tragedy.
Ryamizard, however, was of the opinion that the symposium was but "an obscure idea" in a bid to address the 1965 issue. "I decried the symposium. There is no need to remember old and forgotten parts of our history. In fact, it was not in line with the government's main program of getting on with infrastructure development nationwide," he said.
Ryamizard also insisted that military officials had the right to crackdown on "swelling leftist symbolism", notwithstanding the fact that only the police were authorized to do so.
"The police cannot deal with this matter alone, without help from the military, which has a lot more personnel than the police," Ryamizard said.
Military observer Khairul Fahmi criticized the involvement of military officials in the crackdown on perceived expressions of communist ideals, saying that they had to focus solely on "maintaining the country's defenses to uphold [its] sovereignty".
"They are not authorized to do the police's as if they were a law enforcement institution," said Khairul, an expert from the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies, to the The Jakarta Post on Friday.
National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said on Friday that the police would take action against people who spread leftist teachings, within certain "restrictions" police officers had to observe.
"For example, if they find books allegedly containing communism, they can only take a sample of the book to give to attorneys to examine [it]," Badrodin said.
He added that anybody wanting to perform anything related with communism, such as public movie screenings, should inform local police in their region.
"We have also ordered police officers not to confiscate any books [related to communism] in campus book stores or in publisher's offices [but rather to only take samples]."
He also warned citizens against taking matters into their own hands: "We won't tolerate any parties, such as community organizations or social communities, becoming vigilantes." (mos/wnd)
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