Anti-'dwifungsi' groups criticized

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno warned the public yesterday against "looking for trouble" by making an issue of the military's Dwifungsi doctrine which allows the Armed Forces (ABRI) to play politics.

Some people who have questioned Dwifungsi -- ABRI's dual function in both defense and politics -- do not understand its background and only want to look for trouble, Try said.

Try's message was conveyed to the public through Amien Rais, chief of the 28 million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization. Amien met with and asked Try to open a three-day workshop on education in Jakarta on Aug. 27.

Criticizing Dwifungsi is improper because the doctrine has become a historical fact, said Try, a former general and one-time ABRI chief.

"The political role is what makes ABRI different from armed forces in western countries, where the military is a mere tool of the state," Try said as quoted by Amien.

Try told Muhammadiyah leaders to always make sure that the educational orientation is on track, especially at the present time when the political climate is changing.

He then referred to students grouped in the so-called Democratic People's Party (PRD), an organization which, he said, has resorted to communistic means to achieve its political agenda.

The young generation have to be provided with basic knowledge about the danger of the Indonesian Communist Party, which was blamed for the abortive coup in 1965, he said.

PRD, a tiny leftist organization that comprises mostly students, has been blamed for the July 27 riots in Jakarta that broke out following the invasion of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters.

Security authorities have launched a nationwide campaign to crush the PRD and take legal action against its activists. (pan)