Ex PKI, relatives not hopeful after ruling

M. Taufiqurrahman and Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Anwar (not his real name), thought that discrimination was not something that young adults came up against in the 1980's. But, in 1989, a week after the start of the academic year -- the young man, who was at that time a sophomore of the State Accounting Academy (STAN) -- was summoned to the rector office.

"The rector started by saying that the academy belonged to the state and therefore (we) must follow its regulations. He pointed out my failure to submit my father's good-conduct letter from the police...I had to leave the academy.

"Since then, I understand what discrimination really means. It was my first experience, 25 years after my father was accused of being a member of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)," the 34-year-old said.

Anwar recalled he had often overheard his father regretted the day when he and fellow teachers attended a meeting. They had all signed the attendance sheet and those on the list were stamped as PKI followers.

Anwar never blamed his father, who died in 2000, for what he endured later on.

"All my colleagues and my superiors now know that I did not fail STAN, but left because I am the son of a suspected PKI follower. I'm lucky that my office acknowledges employees based on their performance," he told The Jakarta Post.

Last week, the Constitutional Court moved closer to restoring the political rights of PKI members and their relatives -- who can now exercise their right to vote and to run in legislative elections.

But Nani Nurani, 63, the late president Sukarno's favorite singer and dancer wasn't impressed by the decision.

"The ruling means nothing. Most former PKI members are too old to run for legislative posts, anyway. It only shows the public that something wrong can't always be rectified," she said.

Nani spent 11 years in prison without trial after she was accused of being a communist secret agent. She was arrested while dancing at the PKI's anniversary celebration in Cianjur, West Java, which was also attended by state officials.

She currently awaits the Jakarta High Administrative Court's verdict on her demand to obtain a permanent ID card.

Just like thousands of former PKI members and their families, Nani said she lived her life like an outcast.

"I decided not to get married. I don't want my husband and children to suffer from discrimination. The children will not have equal chances with others because they are the offspring of a suspected former PKI member," she said.

The daughter of a PKI member, Ribka Tjiptaning, had even been intimidated and harassed by the apparatus during the New Order regime.

An active member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) since 1983, Ribka recalled that her father was a successful businessman in the early 1960s. He had donated a considerable amount of money to PKI in 199.

Ribka was also put under police custody in the wake of an ambush on the now defunct Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on July 27, 1996.

"I was imprisoned simply because my father was a member of PKI, not because I was involved in the bloody ambush." she said.

As the elections are nearing, many political parties are already struggling to garner the resurrected votes.

"The right to vote is not the problem. It's not relevant anymore," Anwar said.

For him, discrimination in the country, on a number of levels, is the real issue at hand.

"It really exists. My wife was turned down for a job just because she's married. Look at job vacancy advertisements. Those companies are only looking for single women and not married ones. Isn't that also discrimination?" he asked.