Idea to establish civilian militia
Idea to establish civilian militia
From Pelita
From their reactions and comments, the majority of the community members show that they are harboring suspicions about the idea of establishing a civilian militia.
The Coordinating Minister of Political Affairs and Security has stated that the militia will be established because its establishment is needed and conforms with law.
On the other hand, the Minister of Justice stated that the establishment of the militia would need a strong legal foundation and that, therefore, a law for its establishment would have to be issued.
Irrespective of the pros and cons regarding this matter, we are of the opinion that it is indeed necessary to increase the number of Indonesian policemen as the present number is no longer sufficient to deal with Indonesia's extensive territory and the ever greater diversity of activities carried out by the community.
It is for this reason that we greatly support efforts to increase the number of policemen, but not in the form of the militia.
The consequence of expanding the police force is that the police force will need a bigger budget, which is unavoidable to ensure better handling of various social and state activities. The most important thing in this respect, however, is that recruitment must be conducted through highly selective methods.
The increase in the police budget because of the expansion of the force would be meaningless compared with the forced establishment of the militia, which is certain to bring about adverse impacts as a result of the pros and cons of this matter. Worse still, dangerous conflicts may take place and harm national unity, integrity and development as a result of mutual suspicions between the community and the government.
Therefore we propose the following to the President: (1) Shelve the idea of establishing the militia. (2) Recruit some 75,000 new members of the police force in stages to suit the need and the budget (this number will not include new recruits to replace retired policemen.)
A.P. BATUBARA
General Chairman
Central Executive Board
Gema 17 Agustus 1945
Jakarta