JP/3/Rally/12 MB
JP/3/Rally/12 MB
Golkar youngsters vow to participate in Operation Cleansing
JAKARTA (JP): Youth organizations affiliated with the ruling
Golkar pledged at a rally yesterday to back up the ongoing
Operation Cleansing.
"I am very proud of your pledges. With your participation, I
believe Jakarta will become the most secure city in the world in
the near future," Maj. Gen. Hendroprijono, Jakarta Military
Commander, told the rally's participants.
The rally, held yesterday at the Persija soccer stadium in
Menteng, Central Jakarta, was attended by around 10,000 members
of a dozen youth organizations affiliated with the ruling Golkar,
almost all city councilors of the Golkar faction and some ranking
officers from the City Police Headquarters.
The organizations include AMPI, FKPPI, Pemuda Panca Marga,
Pemuda Pancasila, Generasi Muda KOSGORO, Gerakan Mahasiswa
KOSGORO, Gema MKGR, Fokusmaker, Wirakarya Indonesia, Generasi
Muda GAKARI, GEMABUDHI, Generasi Muda KARPEM, WARGA JAYA, Al
Idrisyah, Baladika Karya, LDII, Mapancas, IKBA-FKPJ, and Banten
martial artists.
The youths, in their signature military fatigues, gave blood
curdling shouts from time to time.
"This rally is not only a political gesture, but an expression
of anti-crime commitment by some militant groups of the society,"
said the two-star army general popularly known as Hendro, who
returned quickly to his car after his brief speech.
In the written oaths read by Selamat Limbong of the AMPI in
front of Tadjus Sobirin, chief of the Golkar's Jakarta chapter,
and Hendro, the youth said they would back up the anti-crime
efforts currently sponsored by the army, and would show examples
of good behavior.
Lt. Col. Didi Supandi, spokesman for the Jakarta military
command, told reporters that the army was still studying the
kinds of participation the organizations would have in Operation
Cleansing.
Informants
Arie Putra Bintana, a city councilor who also served as a
member of consultative board for the FKPPI, said the youths could
help the campaign by being police informants and by persuading
the delinquent youngsters of their neighbors to forsake their
path.
"So the operation is still run by the military. We just back
them up," said Arie.
Operation Cleansing, which started on April 11, involves
16,700 personnel from the army, navy, air force and police force.
Including the volunteer youngsters, Hendro recently said, the
strength of the operation has tripled.
After more than two weeks of operations, the city looks to be
more secure, with busy streets now deserted in the evenings and
gatherings of drunkards at night diminished.
In the first ten days, the operation captured around 500
criminals and drunkards, 40,000 bottles of spirits, five
firearms, and hundreds of sharp weapons.
Separate from the operation, the police have also seized more
than 100,000 bottles of spirits. (jsk)