Maintain the decree on communism: MUI<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) called on
\nthe government and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to
\nuphold the 34-year-old ban of communist teaching.<\/p>\n
The council's chairman, Amidhan, said the public discourse on
\nwhether to revoke the decree should stop because it has sparked
\nconfusion among Muslims, who make up some 80 percent of the
\ncountry's 210 million population.<\/p>\n
\"Communist associations should be banned in Indonesia because
\nthey promote atheism. MUI will never compromise with anything
\nlinked to communism or Marxism,\" he said in a press conference on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The Provisional MPR, the highest law making body, issued a
\ndecree slapping a ban on communism in its special session in
\n1966. The decree remains in effect.<\/p>\n
Indonesia declared war on communism after an abortive coup
\nattempt that was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party in
\n1965.<\/p>\n
But more than three decades later, in an interview with the
\nstate-run channel TVRI, President Abdurrahman Wahid said he
\nwelcomed attempts to reopen the coup case.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman himself has repeatedly apologized for the
\ninvolvement of followers of Nahdlatul Ulama -- a Muslim
\norganization he himself led for 15 years before being elected
\npresident last October -- for their participation in the
\nbloodshed.<\/p>\n
Amidhan said the government and the Assembly should take
\nstrict measures against all sides which have organized public
\ndiscussions on communism on the grounds that they have created
\nconfusion among the Muslim people.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the now unlawful communist party was
\nbehind the split of Muslim organizations and parties in the 1950s
\nand 1960s.<\/p>\n
Undecided<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Bishop Council of Indonesia (KWI) and the
\nCommunion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) have yet to issue their
\nofficial stand on the problem, saying that talks on communism do
\nnot top their list of priorities.<\/p>\n
Father Notobudyo, KWI's executive secretary, said Indonesian
\nbishops have not yet joined in the debate and do not intend to.<\/p>\n
Rev. Soelarso Sopater, PGI Chairman, concurred with this,
\nsaying the matter was not included in the agenda of its grand
\nsynod in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, which is still
\nunderway.<\/p>\n
According to his own views on the matter, the government
\nshould leave the issue to the people and let them decide on
\nwhether to revoke the anticommunism decree or not.<\/p>\n
\"Even if it is abolished, the communist party will not become
\nestablished in Indonesia if the people reject it,\" he said.
\nCiting as an example, he stated that Italy, France and the
\nNetherlands were tolerant of the communist party but that it
\nnever really developed into a powerful political movement because
\nit failed to win support from the citizens of those countries.<\/p>\n
In a related development, around 50 youths from the Forum for
\nReform Enforcement staged a demonstration at the Home Ministry
\ncompound, demanding the president to discharge Indonesian Banking
\nRestructuring Agency (BPPN) Chief Cacuk Sudarijanto because the
\nlatter's father, Mulyono Datu Siswanto, was involved in PKI's
\nSept. 30, 1965 abortive coup.<\/p>\n
\"We protest Cacuk's appointment because we have accurate data
\ntelling us that his father was linked to the banned communist
\nparty and involved in the abortive coup,\" said a demonstrator.<\/p>\n
The National Defender Movement (GPK) said Cacuk should resign
\nbecause IBRA managing state assets worth trillions of rupiah
\ncould not be led by an official linked to the communist party.<\/p>\n
\"We do not fear a communist revival, but do believe that BPPN
\nshould be free of its influence,\" GPK Chairman Hamdan said. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/maintain-the-decree-on-communism-mui-1447893297",
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