ABRI again warns of communism

ABRI again warns of communism

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) renewed its warning of a
possible communist revival in Indonesia, saying the threat was
real, not imaginary as some people claimed.

Although the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) has been
eliminated and banned, its ideology is still very much alive,
ABRI Chief Gen. Feisal told a seminar on Saturday, which was held
to mark the 31st anniversary of the crushing of a PKI coup plot.

The communist ideology can never be totally destroyed because
it is not "a perishable material" but a fruit of human thought,
Feisal said.

Tomorrow, the nation commemorates Pancasila Sanctity Day,
which marks the victory of the state ideology in the face of the
Sept. 30, 1965 communist coup attempt.

Government and military officials mark the occasion every year
by warning people of the latent dangers of a communist revival.

Feisal noted with concern that some people, mostly the young,
are skeptical of such warnings, especially now that the communist
ideology has been discarded by the country that first adopted it,
an apparent reference to communist Soviet Union.

He cited four chief reasons to support the military theory
that the latent dangers remain in Indonesia: communism is still
alive in China, Cuba and North Korea; communism continues to be
the antithesis to capitalism; there are remnants of PKI cadres at
home and abroad still obsessed with making a comeback in one form
or another; the economic disparity in Indonesia makes it an ideal
target for communist attacks.

The one-day seminar, which also featured State Minister of
Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman, was organized by Yayasan
Dharma Pena Indonesia, a foundation set up by political
journalists and analysts.

The seminar was attended by about 200 participants from
various youth organizations.

Concern

Hayono said many young Indonesians who were born after 1965
did not share the same concern about the dangers of communism
because they did not experience the betrayal of the PKI.

Feisal warned the youths that communism exploits class
conflicts and manipulates sensitive political issues such as
human rights, democracy and the environment to achieve its goals.

He said the Democratic People's Party (PRD) is an example of a
metamorphosis of the PKI.

The PRD has been blamed for the massive riot in Central
Jakarta on July 27. Following the arrests of its leaders and
members, the military said it found documents that suggested
similarities in structure and methods between the PRD and PKI.

Feisal said military intelligence also discovered that besides
changing in form, the PKI remnants will likely link up with other
extreme organizations to further its goals.

Remnants of the PKI would also use peaceful and humanitarian
overtures to draw the sympathies of the intelligentsia, something
they would not do if they were in power.

"When in power, they don't recognize peace or humanitarianism.
They are no longer friends. For them, the main thing is that they
have achieved their goals," he said.

"Communists do not have eternal friends or eternal enemies.
They only have eternal interests.

"In the name of these interests, communists will do anything.
Their methods can range from the softest, by pretending to adhere
to democracy, to the most violent and inhuman ones such as
revolution, radicalization and dehumanization," he said.

"For the last 30 years, the PKI has used peaceful propaganda
in its activities to remain in existence," Feisal said.

Feisal stressed that the phrase "organization without form",
popularly known by its Indonesian acronym OTB, is not a military
creation, but was first coined by the PKI itself.

The use of the term by the military to refer to the
underground activities of the PKI in the last 30 years had been
questioned by linguistic experts.

"If the term 'OTB' is considered as violating grammatical
rules, this is understandable, because the PKI never learned to
use Bahasa Indonesia properly and correctly," he said, evoking
laughter from the crowd. "The only language the PKI knows is the
language of power and opportunity to steamroll and eliminate
friends and foes," Feisal said.

"I think it is naive that some people received the warning
given by ABRI a while ago about the dangers of OTB with
contempt," he said, recalling that some people translated OTB
into Omomg Tanpa Bukti (To accuse without evidence). (16)