Communism's long shadow<\/p>\n
The sharp debate that is currently going on both inside and
\noutside the People's Consultative Assembly about the possibility
\nof repealing a 38-year-old ban on communism once again
\nillustrates the effectiveness of the past New Order regime's
\nsmear campaign against anything leftist.<\/p>\n
Although not quite unexpected, the withdrawal by the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) over the
\nweekend of its proposal to scrap the old legislative decree --
\npurportedly to avoid voting and smooth the way toward decision-
\nmaking by consensus in the preferred Indonesian way -- the
\nparty's change of stance nevertheless provoked some bitter
\ncomments from dyed-in-the-wool reformists. This party with the
\nbiggest faction in the legislature, after all, had been just
\nabout the only faction in the Assembly seemingly willing, for
\nwhatever reason, to argue for the rights of those hundreds of
\nthousands of relatives and associates of communists and suspected
\ncommunist who have been oppressed by the New Order regime ever
\nsince the 1965 attempted coup.<\/p>\n
One poignant example of how that system of oppression worked
\n-- and most likely still works in many places -- was illustrated
\nin a news report about a 62-year-old classical Sundanese ballad
\nsinger called Nani Nurani. In her younger years, Nani used to be
\nthe favorite traditional Sundanese singer and dancer of
\nIndonesia's first president, Sukarno. Consequently, she was often
\ninvited to sing and dance at palace functions hosted by the
\npresident. The last such function she performed at was held at
\nthe Cipanas presidential summer palace to mark the anniversary of
\nthe Indonesian Communist Party.<\/p>\n
It turned out to be a fateful event, and also the last she was
\nto perform in as a palace singer and dancer. In 1968 she was
\narrested and put in prison for seven years, though she was never
\ntried. After her release from Bukit Duri Women's Penitentiary in
\n1976, Nani applied for an ID card, which all Indonesian citizens
\nare required to carry. Under the law, all Indonesians over 60
\nyears old are entitled to a lifelong ID card issued by the
\nperson's local village and neighborhood authorities. Nani
\nreceived one that identified her as an ex-political prisoner,
\nwhich prevented her from being politically active or taking any
\nkind of job that would allow her close contact with people with
\nany influence in society, such as school teachers. Former
\npolitical prisoners are shunned as outcasts by their own
\ncommunities and are often unable to marry or befriend the people
\nof their choice.<\/p>\n
In Nani's case, however, history and courage interfered. After
\npresident B.J. Habibie came to power in 1998, a new policy to
\nremove the political prisoner tag was put in place. Nani sued her
\nlocal authorities for denying her a lifelong ID card, and won. In
\nJanuary 2000, president Abdurrahman Wahid attempted to bring
\nabout a reconciliation with Indonesian communists residing
\nabroad. He also proposed that the Consultative People's Assembly
\nrepeal the ban on communism and the Communist Party -- which was
\nrejected.<\/p>\n
In the following years, more such efforts followed, but to no
\navail. A survey conducted by Kompas newspaper shows that even to
\nthis day, the stigma continues, even among the younger generation
\nof Indonesians. It seems at present that the choice for those
\nhundreds of thousands of people who still share Nani's fate is
\neither to fight for their rights, like Nani did, or to wait until
\nwho knows when. It seems that communism, enfeebled though it is
\non a global scale, still manages to cast a long dark shadow over
\nthis nation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/communisms-long-shadow-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}