'New leftist' fears questioned by legislators<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The military's fresh warning on the dangers of a
\n\"new leftist\" movement was greeted yesterday with skepticism by
\nmany people, including two prominent legislators.<\/p>\n
The warning came on Sunday from Maj. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, the
\nassistant to the Armed Forces' Chief of Socio-Political Affairs,
\nwho said that the \"new leftist\" movement was even more dangerous
\nthan communism itself because it aims to overthrow the legal
\ngovernment but has no concept of a state of its own.<\/p>\n
Syarwan, during a speech in Bandung, did not mention the names
\nof who these \"new leftist\" people, but he categorized them as
\n\"anti-establishment\".<\/p>\n
Yesterday, legislators A.A. Oka Mahendra of Golkar and Aisyah
\nAmini of the United Development Party questioned Syarwan's
\nconcept of the \"new leftists\", and feared that by including anti-
\nestablishment people, the military could stretch the argument to
\ninclude all critics of the government.<\/p>\n
Oka said that while he agrees that anti-establishment
\nmovements can endanger stability, officials should make it clear
\nwhat they meant by \"new leftists\" in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"It would be unfair to brand people who have different
\nopinions from the government as 'leftist' and 'anti-
\nestablishment'\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Pro-democracy, environmental and human rights groups in
\nIndonesia all have noble causes, which are to improve the
\nnation's record in their respective fields, Oka said, and added
\nit is natural for these groups to criticize the government, as
\nlong as they do it in a fair and responsible fashion.<\/p>\n
\"That there are people who oppose the government is something
\nthat you must accept,\" Aisyah once said on a separate occasion.<\/p>\n
\"The main thing is how they convey their opposition to the
\ngovernment. If they use illegitimate means, then they are out of
\nplace,\" she said. \"So far, in my limited knowledge, I haven't
\nseen any such movement.\"<\/p>\n
Mulyana W. Kusumah of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said
\nthe term \"leftist\", which was first coined to refer to one that
\nsought radical changes in culture and political systems in the
\nWest in the 1970s, is alien to contemporary Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Even the student revolts in 1974 and 1978 were not inspired by
\nthe leftist movement of the West at that time. Rather, they were
\nfueled by political and social ills here, Mulyana said.<\/p>\n
\"Pro-democracy, environmental and human rights activism in
\nIndonesia aims to seek reformation, not revolution,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Mulyana said Syarwan's target was obscure, but speculated that
\nit was probably meant to serve as a warning to the public to be
\ncareful about government critics.<\/p>\n
Arief Budiman, one of the most ardent critics of the
\ngovernment, said Syarwan's warning was another attempt by the
\nmilitary to silence the government's critics, and was something
\nwhich he would not take seriously. \"I'll just laugh it off,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Arief defended the \"new left\" movement, saying that it has
\nbrought fresh ideas on how to make society more just and fair.<\/p>\n
The Harvard-trained sociologist said the \"new left\" was far
\nmore complex than what Syarwan tried to paint, and it is this
\nlack of understanding that has made people in the military
\ndespise the concept.<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that the current New Order administration
\nwas born out of an anti-establishment movement in 1966 involving
\nstudents, the people and the military itself.<\/p>\n
Arief said that criticism from outside the establishment
\nshould be respected because it is often more objective.
\n(pan\/imn\/har\/mds)<\/p>",
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