Maoist groups behind riots, says Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday small groups
\nof Maoist activists were behind the riots that rocked the country
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
"They are applying the Mao Zedong theory in which they (seek
\nto) control villages and then cities," Soeharto told some 70
\nleaders and managers of Islamic boarding schools' cooperatives.<\/p>\n
"They do not just dominate the villages to seize power. These
\ntroublemakers mess the villages up first and then continue their
\ndisturbance into the city," he said.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that these groups were trying to change the
\nstate's foundations, to replace the state ideology Pancasila and
\nthe 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
The five-tenet Pancasila promotes belief in one God, humanity,
\nnational unity, democracy through deliberation and consensus, and
\nsocial justice.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said these groups exerted every effort and used every
\nresource available to reach their goals.<\/p>\n
"Because they are small, they have used every chance to
\nexaggerate issues such as disparities, corruption and illegal
\nlevies," Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
By raising such issues, they hoped to strain relations between
\nthe community and the government so they could exert their will,
\nhe said. "Members of Islamic boarding schools should thus be on
\nthe alert for these small irresponsible groups," he said, citing
\nas an example the recent riot in the West Java town of
\nTasikmalaya.<\/p>\n
The head of state also said the riots in Tasikmalaya and other
\ntowns in the country had been used by irresponsible people like
\n"hoodlums" and other criminals.<\/p>\n
Soeharto said an "alert command center" would be set up to
\ntackle other forms of violence.<\/p>\n
"If you sense something, quick, tell the centers. Let the
\ncenters investigate the agitators," he said.<\/p>\n
"Those people want to disrupt stability," he said. "Our
\ndevelopment is based on stability. Without national stability
\nthere will be no development. Without development there will be
\nno growth. Without growth there will be no parity."<\/p>\n
Before Soeharto, military and civilian leaders have said the
\nrecent riots were started by "intellectual actors" who were
\nmembers of unnamed groups or "formless organizations" -- a
\ngovernment code word for members of the banned Indonesian
\nCommunist Party (PKI).<\/p>\n
There have been three major ethnic and religious riots in
\nIndonesia in the last three months; they occurred respectively on
\nOct. 10 in the East Java town of Situbondo, on Dec. 26 in
\nTasikmalaya and earlier this month in Sanggau Ledo, Sambas, West
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
The first of the riots claimed five lives, the second four
\nlives, and the most recent in Sanggau Ledo killed five.<\/p>\n
Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, chief of the Armed Forces'
\nSociopolitical Affairs, denied Thursday accusations that the army
\nhad provoked the ethnic and religious riots.<\/p>\n
Indonesia views communism as a major threat to the nation's
\nstability. In 1965, the PKI staged a bloody coup that killed
\nseveral army generals. It was the party's second attempt after
\nthe communist rebellion in 1948. The PKI had close links with its
\ncomrades in China.<\/p>\n
Also yesterday, Soeharto urged the management of Islamic
\nboarding schools to encourage their cooperatives to establish
\ncloser ties.<\/p>\n
"The cooperatives of the pesantren should foster closer
\nrelations," he said, adding that cooperatives should buy goods
\nfrom wholesale markets instead of common stores to take advantage
\nof the cheaper prices.<\/p>\n
The meeting was also attended by the general chairman of the
\nmajor Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama's law-making body,
\nIlyas Ruchiyat, also a member of the supervisory body of the
\nCipasung Islamic boarding school in Tasikmalaya. (35)<\/p>",
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