Policy against former communists questioned<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An expert on the Pancasila ideology yesterday
\nappealed to the government to rethink its policy of
\ndiscriminating against former communists.<\/p>\n
Poedjo Moeljono said politically, the policy may be defensible
\nbut it is not necessarily so from a humanitarian point of view.<\/p>\n
\"The government may view that this policy must be continued
\nfor security reasons. But should this be continued forever?\"
\nasked the senior ideology propagator of BP-7, the government
\nagency that advises on matters of Pancasila ideology, the Antara
\nnews agency reported.<\/p>\n
Poedjo said Indonesia should rethink this policy, taking
\nhumanitarian factors into consideration.<\/p>\n
He was specifically referring to the policy of stamping the
\nletters ET which stands for eks Tapol (former political
\ndetainees) on the identity cards of thousands of people who were
\naccused of involvement in the abortive coup attempt blamed on the
\nIndonesian Communist Party in 1965.<\/p>\n
Those whose identity cards carry the initials are required to
\nreport to the local police periodically. They are also denied
\nsome civic rights enjoyed by other citizens. For example, they
\ncannot run government although they may vote. They are also
\nbarred from taking jobs in the civil service, the military or
\nholding key positions in political organizations. Certain
\nprofessions regarded as politically strategic, like teaching and
\njournalism, are also off limits to them.<\/p>\n
Some of these bans in practice also apply to their offspring
\nand often to distant relatives.<\/p>\n
Poedjo, who is BP-7 deputy for general affairs, said the
\npolicy should be reviewed, especially for those eks Tapol who
\nwere banished, without trial, to Buru Island in Maluku after they
\nwere rounded up in the aftermath of the botched coup attempt in
\n1965.<\/p>\n
There is no \"legal ground\" to stamp their ID card with ET,
\nparticularly in view of the fact that the coup attempt happened
\nnearly 30 years ago, he said.<\/p>\n
Poedjo said he could understand the reason behind the recent
\nrequest by the National Commission on Human Rights to review the
\npolicy of stamping the ID cars of eks Tapol.<\/p>\n
He said that this did not mean that Indonesia should ease its
\nvigilance against the dangers of a communist revival by the
\nformer detainees. \"Physically, they may be old and weak, but they
\ncould still influence other people.\"<\/p>\n
He said the young generation could also easily fall prey to
\ncommunist teachings and influence. \"That's why teachers of
\nPancasila must be able to convince their students that communism
\nis inappropriate for Pancasila.\" (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/policy-against-former-communists-questioned-1447893297",
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