ABRI names faces behind incidents

ABRI names faces behind incidents

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) announced the names of
three people whom it has identified with the "formless"
organizations that have been blamed for recent acts of
provocation.

ABRI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono identified the
three as author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, scholar George Aditjondro
and labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan.

"These are not rumors. These are the facts," Soeyono told
reporters at his office.

"The organizations change their form constantly but the people
behind them are always the same," he said. "Their objective is
clear: to topple the government, split ABRI and set ABRI against
the people, and destroy this nation."

Asked whether ABRI intends to take any action against the
three men, he responded: "Don't be surprised if one of these days
ABRI declares them as enemies. If they continue with their fight,
they will have to deal with ABRI."

President Soeharto and senior government and military
officials in the past week have issued several warnings about the
existence of "formless" organizations whose activities bear the
hallmarks of the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

These organizations, they say, are preying on young people to
spread communist teachings under the guise of democracy and human
rights issues. ABRI has also linked some recent incidents of
agitation to the activities of these "formless" organizations.

Until yesterday, however, they refrained from disclosing
names.

Pramoedya, Indonesia's most renowned writer abroad, received
the prestigious Magsaysay award for literature last month. The
award prompted criticism from some fellow writers who recalled
Pramoedya's campaign in the 1960s to clamp down on writers and
artists opposing communism.

Soeyono also underlined Pramoedya's membership in Lekra, the
PKI's cultural wing, as one reason to be suspicious of his recent
activities.

Muchtar is the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor
Union (SBSI), an organization still not recognized by the
government. Muchtar was recently acquitted by the Supreme Court
of charges of inciting last year's labor riot in Medan, North
Sumatra.

"Muchtar is a PKI," Soeyono said, adding that Mucthar's father
led the bloody, PKI-sponsored worker strike in Bandarbesi in
North Sumatra in the 1960s.

Wanted

George, a vocal scholar who is wanted by the police for
allegedly making remarks that insulted President Soeharto, is
currently teaching and conducting research in Australia.

Soeyono described George as falling into the lesser "B
Category", usually reserved for hardcore communists.

After the PKI was banned in 1966, the government put former
PKI members into different categories. Category A for hardcore
communists who took direct part in the 1965 abortive coup,
Category B for hardcore communists who did not have a direct
role, and so on.

"Look at what Aditjondro and Pramoedya wrote in the Australia-
based Progress magazine as well as Aditjondro's recent comments
which appeared on the Internet," Soeyono said.

Soeyono warned the three men, who are now on ABRI's black
list, to stop their acts of provocation.

He also criticized those people, particularly the young, who
have expressed support for or come to the defense of the three
men.

Those people born after 1965 should improve their
understanding of the nation's history lest they fall under the
influence of these "formless" organizations, he said.

He expressed his concern with the many young people who,
puzzled by ABRI's relentless warnings of latent communist
dangers, have asked: "Is the communist danger really that bad?"

Meanwhile, an organization of former student leaders whose
demonstrations in 1966 led to the banning of the PKI, yesterday
urged the government to renew its campaign to purge the nation of
communists and their sympathizers, whom, they say, have
infiltrated the top levels of the bureaucracy.

The group, called Laskar Arief Rachman Hakim, said government
agencies should begin now and not wait around for the military to
conduct a screening.

The group's chairman, Djusril Djusan, told reporters that the
group has a list of names of former PKI members and its
supporters who are now holding top government positions.

He recalled that before it was banned, the PKI had three
million members and over 21 million sympathizers.

"We should know where they are now and what they do," he said.

Djusril, however, declined to give any names. (rms/imn)