Habibie's communism comment anachronistic<\/p>\n
Marhaen was the name of a farmer ex-president Sukarno put into
\nthe political lexicon under \"Marhaenism\", the Indonesian
\nalternative to Marxism. Curiously, President B.J. Habibie touched
\non this dormant ideology in a statement last week. Political
\nanalyst J. Soedjati Djiwandono looks at this issue.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Habibie's recent statement on
\ncommunism, Marhaenism and socialism sounded like a pathetic
\nsymptom of his frustration with his dismal failure either to
\nunderstand, let alone resolve, the numerous social, political
\neconomic and security problems facing the nation.<\/p>\n
His inclusion of socialism and Marhaenism may have been
\ndirected particularly at the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati, whose challenge to his
\nposition and that of his own party, Golkar, he perhaps feels
\nunable to face. And his later explanation and elaboration serves
\nonly to reveal a confused mind and a shameful lack of knowledge
\nand understanding of what he was talking about.<\/p>\n
For one thing, it is anachronistic under the circumstances of
\ntoday's world to speak of a communist menace as an ideology.
\nCommunism as a political movement may be a threat, but only if
\nthe existing political system fails to promote justice. Yet it is
\nwrong to accuse any critical view of the existing system, even to
\nthe extent of seeking an alternative system by democratic means,
\nof communist leanings or influence.<\/p>\n
Besides, to mention communism, socialism and Marhaenism in one
\nbreath is not really coherent. The idea of socialism developed
\nwell before the time of Marx, who then developed the concept of
\nsocialism of his own variant which he called \"scientific
\nsocialism\", in contrast to the previous variant, which he
\ndismissed as \"utopian socialism\".<\/p>\n
The kind of communism as we know it today is \"Marxism-
\nLeninism\", after being added with Lenin's contribution, one of
\nwhich is the idea of a \"communist party\" as a vanguard to lead
\nthe \"socialist revolution\".<\/p>\n
Engels, Marx's friend and confidant, did not seem to bother
\nabout terminology. In his preface to the 1888 English edition of
\nCommunist Manifesto, he wrote to the effect that he chose the
\nterm \"communist\" simply because it had, at that time, come to be
\ncommonly used and that it sounded more \"radical\" and more
\n\"revolutionary\".<\/p>\n
For another, it is everyone's right to hold a political view,
\nin so far as doing one does not encroach on the rights of others
\nor disturb public order. It may be recalled that when Gen.
\nSoeharto banned the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on March 12,
\n1966, for its alleged involvement in the Sept. 30 Movement
\n(Gestapu) of 1965 on the basis of the March 11 Order (Supersemar)
\n-- if such an order ever did exist -- the ban did not include
\ncommunism as an ideology. Only later, months later, did the
\nProvisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) issue a decree
\nbanning the spread of Marxism-Leninism.<\/p>\n
Nor was communism as an ideology banned after the Madiun
\nAffair of 1948, which was alleged to have been led by the PKI. In
\nfact, even the PKI was not banned, which perhaps it should have
\nbeen. Interestingly, the Islamic Masyumi Party and the Indonesian
\nSocialist Party (PSI) were both banned by president Sukarno for
\ntheir supposed involvement in rebellions -- rightly or wrongly --
\nand their leaders arrested and detained without trial. Yet
\nneither Islam nor socialism were banned. In the former case --
\ndetaining dozens of people without trial -- Sukarno was wrong.
\nBut in the latter case, he was right.<\/p>\n
To set the record straight, Gen. Soeharto let hundreds of
\nthousands of suspected communists be killed mercilessly and many
\nmore hundreds of thousands detained for years on end without
\ntrial. Indeed, some were tried before the court and sentenced to
\neither death or long years of imprisonment. Many of those
\ndetained without trial have been released, but they have had to
\nbear a stigma on their names until today.<\/p>\n
Thus under both the Old Order and the New Order, this nation
\nhas an outstanding debt to humanity. Indeed, most but probably
\nnot many of us -- admittedly not this writer -- have thought
\nabout those black leaves in the history of our country in this
\nlight when those horrible events took place. I believe for many
\nof us it has been a long, painful and bitter process of learning.<\/p>\n
Successive Japanese governments have made amends for the past
\n\"sins\" of their nation during World War II by publicly
\napologizing to a number of Asian countries. The French government
\nunder president Chirac also expiated the wrong of his country
\nagainst the Jews during the war in Europe.<\/p>\n
We, Indonesians, however, have remained silent about what
\nhappened relatively not so long ago, which may now be described
\nas no less than \"sins against humanity\". To be sure, it has not
\nbeen as long ago as World War II. Still, it is beyond
\ncomprehension that we should continue to allow ourselves to
\nwallow in vengeance even against those whose guilt is yet to be
\nproved beyond any reasonable doubt. Perhaps we need more time. It
\nis never too late to learn.<\/p>",
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