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.