Communist can infiltrate ABRI

Communist can infiltrate ABRI

SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): A senior military officer says
that even the Armed Forces (ABRI), with their tight security
arrangements, are vulnerable to communist infiltration.

Maj. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, assistant to the ABRI chief of social
and political affairs, said yesterday that the communists have
insidious methods for penetrating virtually any organization,
including ABRI and religious groups.

The West Java branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) reportedly
took offense at Syarwan's earlier statement that the Moslem
organization had once been infiltrated by members of the now-
banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"With its large membership, can anybody guarantee that the NU
is free from communist infiltration?" Syarwan asked during a
seminar at Diponegoro University here. "Even ABRI, with its tight
security systems, can be penetrated."

The NU currently has some 34 million members and supporters,
most of them in rural areas, making it the largest organization
in Indonesia.

Syarwan denied yesterday that he had "accused" the NU of
having communist links.

Syarwan told a seminar in Jakarta on Saturday that, in the
1960s, elements of the PKI had infiltrated various organizations,
including the Sarekat Islam and the NU. The PKI was one of the
largest political groups in Indonesia before it was banned in
March 1966, six months after an abortive coup attempt which the
Army blamed on the communists.

The NU's West Java branch said in a statement made available
to the press early this week that its members rejected the
allegations, as well as Syarwan's statement categorizing the NU
as an "extreme right-wing" organization.

"The NU is anti-communist and it is impossible for it to
compromise with communist teachings," said the statement, issued
in Bandung, capital of West Java.

Syarwan said last Saturday that it was nothing new for PKI
members to join "extreme right-wing" organizations.

"Long before their rebellion, PKI members had experience in
infiltrating mass and religious organizations. They entered the
NU, student and labor organizations," Syarwan said.

Nahdlatul Ulama, which means "the awakening of the religious
teachers", has been both a political party and a religious
organization since its founding in 1926.

The ulemas organization said Syarwan's statement was
misleading and might harm national unity. They demanded that
Syarwan apologize to all NU members for making the remarks.
(har/31)