Clear and present danger?

Clear and present danger?

Communism may be dead in Eastern Europe, or temporarily
stored in the attic in China or Vietnam, but, ironically, here in
Indonesia it is still believed to pose a clear and present
danger. At least, its specter continues to haunt us.

Officially, three decades after its beheading following the
failure of the coup undertaken by the Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI) in 1965, that ideology is still considered a threat to the
nation.

The latest confirmation of this perceived danger came from
none other than the most authoritative security officer in this
country, namely Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung. To
many people's surprise, he corroborated the other day that there
are indications that some 300 to 400 Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) activists from all over Indonesia have past communist links
and must be considered "unclean".

The furor over the communist specter started last month, when
West Java officials announced that Djadjang Kurniadi, chairman of
the West Java chapter of PDI, was suspected to have been involved
in communist activities in the 1960s. The disclosure, although
categorically denied by Djadjang, has prompted the PDI executive
board to suspend him.

The most interesting thing, though, is that the first
allegation of Djadjang's possible dark and murky past came from
rival party members, who are opposed to the leadership of PDI's
chairwoman Megawati. Successively, this rival group joined other
rebel PDI members, and they set up a rival executive board under
the "chairmanship" of Jusuf Merukh last month. Also interesting
to note is that it was Jusuf who fired off the allegation last
week that between 300 to 400 PDI activists have past communist
links.

Given Jusuf's background, one can easily surmise that there
must be an underlying political motive in his accusation; that
being to undermine Megawati's leadership. One may wonder, for
instance, why Jusuf, who for years was himself one of the top
leaders of PDI, chose not to reveal his "findings" until after he
was sacked from the party's leadership.

Gen. Feisal Tanjung's confirmation, later supported by
Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S. Memed, also raises questions.
For years following the 1965 abortive communist coup, numerous
firm measures have been taken, particularly by ABRI, to eliminate
all communist-related things from the nation's life. Communist,
Marxist and Leninist teachings are banned under a decree issued
by the People's Consultative Assembly. Certain professions, such
teaching, journalism and that of the dalang shadow play
puppeteer, are closed to former communist party members or
sympathizers.

People must obtain a document verifying that they were not
involved in the 1965 abortive communist coup before they can
apply for a job, especially in the civil service and the Armed
Forces. Candidates for legislative councils have to pass a so-
called litsus (special examination) screening procedure before
they can even be nominated. To have a brother, sister, parent, or
even an in-law who has past links with PKI means to be "unclean"
and such a person is barred from certain positions.

For three decades this tough policy has been adopted and
enforced. A number of communist moles have been exposed,
including one who succeeded in infiltrating the Golkar executive
board a few years back. Thus, it is hard to believe that there
are still hundreds of suspected activists with past communist
links just in PDI alone. But if there are, one can surely be
forgiven for asking if there are others in other organizations or
parties as well.

At the same time, though, one must remember that in past years
many instances have occurred in which people, mostly uneducated
villagers who were opposed to certain government projects, found
themselves accused of terlibat PKI, that is, to have had
communist links.

After the demise of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, many
people here have questioned the relevance of continuing the
policy of vigilance against communists. At present, almost half
of our entire population are people born after 1965, who have no
experience whatsoever with either the PKI or with communism. And
the percentage of such people in the population is going to be
larger still in the years that are to come. In that case, should
we still continue this policy?

Understandably, some people are having their doubts and even
believe that the current policy -- of keeping the communist
skeleton hidden in the closet and taking it out whenever it is
deemed convenient -- is merely an excuse, or a justification for
achieving a certain political purpose. Moreover, using their
plain common sense, many people are inclined to believe that the
corruption, collusion and social disparities of today pose an
even more real threat to the nation than does communism.

True, we have to keep alert and must not belittle the
communist danger. We think, however, that we should seriously
strive to solve this problem, once and for all. If some cleaning
up is necessary, then we should do it without sparing anyone.

Surely we do not want our children and our children's children
to be haunted continuously by the communist specter. We believe
that a never-ending witch hunt can eventually seriously harm not
only our nation's development programs, but also its unity and
stability.