'Recent unrest may be work of communists'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Recent incidents of public unrest, including
\nthis week's attack on the house of an alleged murderer in East
\nJakarta, bear the hallmarks of communist provocation, a senior
\ngovernment official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The government is looking into the possibility that these
\nincidents were the work of certain \"formless\" organizations,
\nCoordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo
\nSoedarman told reporters after holding a meeting with officials
\nunder his supervision.<\/p>\n
The methods used resembled those used by the now outlawed
\nIndonesian Communist Party (PKI), he said.<\/p>\n
\"The PKI style of setting groups against one another and
\nspreading wild rumors has become the preferred method of these
\n`formless' organizations to aggravate the situation,\" Soesilo was
\nquoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
They have incited public anger and will exploit every
\nopportunity available to sow disunity, discord and hatred against
\nthe government, he said.<\/p>\n
The PKI was one of the largest political parties in Indonesia
\nbefore it was banned in March 1966, six months after the abortive
\ncoup which the military blamed on the party.<\/p>\n
Soesilo said there is a possibility that these formless
\norganizations are connected with the international communist
\nmovement \"which is entering the country like a ghost\".<\/p>\n
Soesilo cited as an example the recent public anger at the
\nbrutal murder of the family members of Rohadi, a Jakarta teacher.
\nLocal tension culminated in Rohadi's neighborhood, where two
\nhouses believed to belong to the murderers and their accomplices
\nwere attacked.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto last week warned the public of the
\nemergence of \"formless\" communist organizations. He added that
\nthe organizations usually prey on young people and that they
\noften conduct their activities behind the veil of promoting human
\nrights and democracy.<\/p>\n
Soesilo said yesterday that the government is investigating
\nthe existence of these invisible organizations and the people
\nbehind them.<\/p>\n
\"We are investigating everything, including the people who
\nstirred chaos during the departure of haj pilgrims a few months
\nago,\" he said. \"The Minister of Religious Affairs may have
\naccepted responsibility for the chaos, but we still have to
\ninvestigate who stirred the confusion.\"<\/p>\n
Thousands of would-be pilgrims could not depart to Saudi
\nArabia for the haj pilgrimage in April because of problems with
\ntheir visas.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairman of the
\nminority Indonesian Democratic Party, demanded yesterday that the
\ngovernment explain precisely what it means by the term \"formless
\norganization\".<\/p>\n
\"Every organization has a form and is based on regulations,\"
\nMegawati told The Jakarta Post in Semarang.<\/p>\n
The term could lead to various interpretations, she added.<\/p>\n
Law expert Muladi, a member of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights, also cautioned the government against quickly
\nblaming former PKI members or their offspring of being behind the
\n\"formless\" organizations.<\/p>\n
He said in Semarang yesterday that former PKI members and
\ntheir families would probably become prime suspects because they
\nare perceived to have the motive -- grudge.<\/p>\n
But they should not be accused as such unless there is proof,
\nhe said. \"We have to respect the family of PKI members who have
\nbecome defenders of Pancasila now. We must not discriminate
\nagainst them,\" said Muladi, who is also rector of the Semarang-
\nbased Diponegoro University.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month the military said that former PKI members
\nwere active again in trying to disturb national security and
\norder. (31\/har)<\/p>",
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