Emha questions creation of new intellectual group

SEMARANG (JP): The establishment of the Association of Intellectuals for Pancasila Development (PCPP) may be part of a "bigger movement", according to controversial poet and playwright Emha Ainun Nadjib.

"The PCPP is not solely an intellectual forum. It is being used to divert public attention from something bigger that is not yet transparent," Emha told reporters yesterday.

So far, news about the PCPP has focused more on its establishment. But its background, purposes and direction have not been fully disclosed, he said.

"I think it is naive, may be even stupid, to simply discuss the PCPP on the surface without realizing what is really going on behind it. It's like the odor released when someone passes wind: We should not only smell it, but find out where it's coming from and where it is heading."

Asked to explain what he meant by a "bigger movement" Emha said that the establishment of the PCPP might have something to do with the national leadership succession. "Just think. Why Purwokerto -- a hinterland town -- rather than a coastal town?"

The PCPP was founded by a group of lecturers at the Jenderal Sudirman University in Purwokerto in July. The association, which currently remains without a chairman, has rapidly expanded and established branches in other cities. So rapid has been its expansion that it has been seen by some as rivaling the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI).

The PCPP has received widespread support from senior government officials not connected with the ICMI and scholars who are looking for a forum that is not based on religious faith. The association is planning to hold a congress in November to elect a leader.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the ICMI and four other religious-based intellectual groups announced that they plan to organize a seminar to discuss the relevance of the state ideology Pancasila in relation to national culture.

The seminar, scheduled for Nov. 10, will be opened by President Soeharto, said ICMI chairman B.J. Habibie.

Habibie reported to the head of state at his Jl. Cendana residence on Tuesday along with the leaders of the four other groups, which included Siti Hartati Murdaya and Oka Diputra, both of the Buddhist KCBI, Putu Setia of the Hindu FCHI, Joko Wijono and Martin Pakpahan of the Catholic ISKA, Peter Sumbung and Cornelius Ronowijoyo of the Protestant PIKI, and Jimly Ash Shiddiqy of the ICMI.

Habibie said it is the duty of the country's intellectuals to ensure -- by persuasion rather than by force -- that the state ideology is accepted by the entire nation.

The idea for the seminar's theme came from PIKI, Habibie said.

"We realize that in our development endeavors, we should not only go after material gains but more important are the spiritual values that bind and unite the people of this maritime nation."

He underlined that Pancasila was "dug out" rather than "created" by Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, from the values found in Indonesia's cultures.

The launching of the seminar on Nov. 10 will coincide with the inauguration of the Science and Technology Center at Taman Mini in East Jakarta, he added.

Nov. 10 is also Heroes Day in Indonesia. (har/emb)