Raising communist specter may be ineffective<\/p>\n
The government is working hard to find the perpetrators of the
\nrecent riot in Tasikmalaya. It has hinted the riot was the work
\nof \"intellectual actors\" and that the masterminds were using the
\nMao strategy. Political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono
\ngrapples with the issue.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Since the communist coup attempt on Sept. 30
\n1965, we have been warned against the \"latent communist threat\".
\nWe have been constantly urged to be vigilant. Such warnings and
\nexhortations were repeated constantly last year, in one of the
\nmost violent and disturbed periods in the history of the New
\nOrder.<\/p>\n
Such warnings and exhortations may make little sense for the
\ngeneration of Indonesians born around 1965 and for the majority
\nof people they are confusing and boring. Yet the latest
\nsuggestion there had been efforts to apply \"Mao's theory\" to the
\nviolent event at Tasikmalaya on Dec. 26 is worth examining.<\/p>\n
Mao's theory was, strictly speaking, that of Lin Piao, once
\nconsidered to be Mao's heir apparent. Lin Piao's theory was based
\non a strategy that Mao applied in the last stages of the Chinese
\ncommunist revolution under his leadership to gain final victory
\nover the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek. The strategy had
\nnothing to do with either Marxist or Leninist theoretical
\nthinking. Rather, its application was necessitated by the force
\nof circumstances.<\/p>\n
A series of alliances with the Kuomintang, especially under
\nthe leadership of Chiang Kai-shek and at the advice and support
\nof Moscow was forged as an implementation of Comintern's strategy
\n(1922) of a \"united front from above\" in the face of Japanese
\ninvasion. On most occasions, however, such an alliance between
\nthe Kuomintang and the Communists ended with the destruction of
\nthe latter, particularly in the big cities. This forced the
\nscattered and battered surviving Communists to flee to the
\ncountryside for consolidation. The famous \"long march\" is to be
\nseen in this context.<\/p>\n
Lin Piao wanted to make the experience of the victorious
\nChinese communist revolution under Mao Zedong a \"model\" of
\nsocialist revolution for the whole world. It was meant to be an
\nalternative to the Soviet model, which had gone through the
\nopposite process. In fact, no communist party the world over
\nseized power exactly after the Soviet or the Chinese model.<\/p>\n
The late Arnold Brackman in his book The Communist Collapse in
\nIndonesia (1969) argued that Lin Piao's theory was in fact a
\ncontribution made by Aidit, Chairman of the Indonesian Communist
\nParty (PKI). It was originally his idea to extend the application
\nof the Maoist experience to the global level in the context of
\nthe world socialist revolution. Thus Asia, Africa, and Latin
\nAmerica were to constitute the countryside, and the advanced
\ncapitalist countries the cities of the world. For this
\ncontribution Aidit was awarded honorary membership of the Chinese
\nAcademy of Sciences.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of his ascendancy to the leadership of the
\nPKI, after its near total destruction in the wake of the
\nunsuccessful revolt in 1948, Aidit consistently adhered to the
\nComintern strategy of a \"united front from above\" by allying with
\nnon-communist political parties. This reached its peak in the
\nform of the NASAKOM coalition before it hoped to be strong enough
\nfinally to lead a socialist revolution employing the Comintern
\nstrategy in the Chinese, not the Soviet model.<\/p>\n
To suggest that there are now efforts to apply Lin Piao's or
\nMao's doctrine in Indonesia should be backed by solid evidence.
\nSo far the authorities are yet to find evidence that the
\nTasikmalaya riot had any link with any solid forces in the
\ncountryside.<\/p>\n
One would also think that accusing anyone of being communist-
\ninspired or communist-influenced simply on the basis of similar
\ntactics sounds like an effort to find a scapegoat. Whether we
\nlike it or not, communism or the communist system has had an
\nimpact on the world at large. The idea of a planned economy, for
\ninstance, was originally a contribution from the communists. It
\nwas Stalin who first initiated a five-year development plan in
\n1923. It was the communists who first used the term \"cadre\" in
\nthe sense that we commonly understand now, as differs from its
\noriginal meaning in the days of Napoleon.<\/p>\n
Shouldn't we be honest and admit the possibility of mistakes?
\nWe should accept the possibility that the victims of the recent
\nacts of violence are but intermediate targets, and that those
\nacts of violence may represent genuine grievances against
\ninjustice.<\/p>\n
One should also bear in mind that given the possibility of
\npopular grievances against injustice underlying the present
\nunrest, raising the communist specter would only create the
\nimpression among the uninformed that the struggle for social
\njustice was only the struggle of the communists. This would be a
\ncredit they would not deserve.<\/p>\n
The writer is a member of the Board of Directors at the Center
\nfor Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/raising-communist-specter-may-be-ineffective-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}