Amnesty for political detainees

Amnesty for political detainees

From Tiras

There is a wide range of views -- for and against -- concerning the proposal made by Dr H Roeslan Abdulgani that the government should give amnesty to elderly political detainees. I have my own reason in agreeing with Roeslan Abdulgani's ideas.

The people of Russia, for example, who used to base their state on communism, said they no longer liked communism. Then why do we in Indonesia, who have Pancasila for our state philosophy, think that communism is still latent. We are still suspicious of the children, grandchildren, sons-in-law of a person that was a communist. In my opinion, why should we be afraid of communism? We have been had Pancasila training for the people for a long time now. Our development has been a big success, and above all, the majority of the population is Moslem.

Many people who hated communism were accused of being communist party members. These people could not defend themselves and became victims.

By granting amnesty to the elderly political detainees, I believe that the support of the New Order will become stronger. I particularly agree with Emil Salim (Tiras No 12/Thn.I/20 April 1995) who said: "It is good to make peace with all parties. We should take the good things from what we have experienced and consider the negative points. We should learn a lesson from our past feuds, and make a concerted effort to face the future challenge. Why don't we turn a new leaf in our life?"

AHMAD NURDIN

Bengkulu