'Leftist' books secure in 'preemptive sweep'
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Yogyakarta police have conducted a "preemptive sweep" of "leftist" books in the Sultanate, contending that the actions are an attempt to save the literature from being destroyed by anticommunist groups.
Yogyakarta Police Chief Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf confirmed on Thursday that police had impounded 49 books, comprising 19 different titles, from 11 bookstores and street vendors due to the threat of raids by anticommunist groups.
"We were not confiscating the books. We only asked the book owners to entrust police with keeping them in a safe place. We'll return them when the situation has returned to normal," he said.
Saleh did not explain, however, why police were limiting the legal distribution of these books instead of protecting bookstores and preventing unlawful attacks.
He in fact called on any residents in Yogyakarta who may possess "leftist" books to hand them over to police.
"It will be safer for them to put the books here in the police's hands.
"We're afraid of possible conflict between owners of the books and the anticommunist groups if they conduct the sweeping," he said.
The country's largest bookstore chains began removing "leftist" books from their shelves last week, following threats from the Islamic Youth Movement (GPI) that it would conduct a sweeping of such books on May 20.
GPI is part of the 33-member Anti-Communist Coalition.
Saleh later told the Post that the books were "now safely kept in the police warehouse".
"They are now safe from the hands of anticommunist groups.
"This way, anticommunist groups will not be dealing with the bookstores ... they will be dealing directly with the police. Police will guarantee the protection of the people of Yogyakarta in whichever way we can," Saleh said.
The police's move to confiscate "leftist" books leaves open to question the government's true intentions regarding the protection of such basic freedoms, despite an abundance of rhetoric.
Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X defended the police's measure, saying it would avoid unnecessary anxiety.
One roadside bookseller said he was relieved that police took such action.
"We're lucky that it was the police who took the books. We just don't want anticommunist groups to seize our property and vandalize our merchandise," Yulianto, who sells books on Jl. Kahar Muzakar, told the Post on Thursday.
But in Jakarta, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin Lopa claimed that the government would stop raids launched on bookstores in an attempt to eradicate "leftist" and communist literature from distribution.
"Cabinet has decided that the sweeps will not be allowed," Lopa said after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, without elaborating on what steps would be taken.
The books' writers and the arts community have formed one of the most vocal groups condemning the planned sweeps, joining together in the Alliance for the Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Speech.
More condemnation was voiced on Thursday as renowned poet Taufiq Ismail denounced attempts to destroy "the fruit of intellectual work and thinking".
"If we don't agree to a book's content, we must write and publish another book to criticize it," he said at the Yogyakarta State University on Thursday.
"If we don't want communism to grow in Indonesia, what we should do is fight poverty, because it (Communism) usually grows well among the poor," he said.
Strong criticism was also voiced in Makassar, South Sulawesi, where the Association of the Makassar Student Press described acts to destroy books as "an interdiction of scientific study".
"Reading a book does not make someone a communist," a representative of the association, Ridwan, insisted.
"Such tactics are equivalent to restraining the right to literary freedom," he added. (02/23/27/44/byg)