Lifting ban on communism is belated thinking

Lifting ban on communism is belated thinking

As warnings have been raised about whether the public is ready
for the lifting of the ban on communism, political analyst J.
Soedjati Djiwandono questions the need for the preservation of an
ineffective ruling.

JAKARTA (JP): However communism is understood, be it as an
ideology, a belief system, or a political movement, it was wrong
in the first place to ban it.

It was a violation of human rights. It was as wrong as
imposing a religion on anyone as implicit in the existing
marriage law of the country, for such an imposition is not only
against religious freedom, but it is also to cultivate the seed
of hypocrisy.

It is also a violation of human rights. Indeed, one can
believe in something or chose not to believe in anything, as long
as one does not encroach on anyone else's rights or disturb
public order.

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to
which Indonesia is a signatory, provides that "Everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom
either along or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching,
practice, worship and observation." Thus it was equally wrong to
ban the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

It must be noted that when former president Soeharto banned
PKI on March 12, 1966 on the basis of the March 11 Order
(Supersemar), whose existence has been questioned for some time,
it was based on the allegation -- never proven beyond any
reasonable doubt -- that PKI was the mastermind of the so-called
Gestapu affair.

There was no mention of the communist ideology. Only later --
in July 1996 -- was the ban on the teaching of communism enacted
by the ignorant Provisional Consultative Assembly (MPRS) through
its Decree No. XXV.

Indeed, the fact that the term used in the decree is
Marxism/Leninism (rather than Marxism-Leninism) is an indication
of the Assembly's ignorance.

With hindsight, the emotional reaction on the part of the
people in general to the Gestapu affair and their traumatic
experience of having a number of Army generals brutally murdered
by the Gestapu allegedly masterminded and staged by PKI was
understandable.

For one thing, however, it was instigated by the exaggerated
and excessive propaganda or at least allegations from the start
by the military of the decisive role of PKI -- only to be
"proven" later -- in the Gestapu affair, and the exploitation of
usually excitable religious sentiments of the people, as if
communism had much to do with religion at all.

Communism, after all, was not born because of the challenge of
religion, but that of oppression and injustice.

For another thing, the massacre of hundreds of thousands of
alleged communists and the detention and torture of many more
without trial, many for years on end, were no less brutal and
barbaric acts. They were the gravest debts of the New Order to
humanity that have never been, and perhaps never will and can be
fully repaid.

In that light, President Abdurrahman Wahid's public apology --
certainly on behalf of the nation -- to the victims of the
massacre and unlawful detention of many alleged communists as
well as to their surviving family members was the right gesture.

It was evidence of his consistent humanity. It was the right
step toward a long and probably painful process of national
reconciliation, if hatred and vengeance from generation to
generation should not forever obsess the nation.

Though never explicitly stated, the banning of PKI by Soeharto
was justified by the fact that PKI was behind the Gestapu affair,
an allegation and yet to be proven assumption.

This in itself was a ridiculous accusation, since president
Sukarno, who should have been the main target of such an attempt,
was himself suspected of having been involved in the "coup
d'etat" -- against himself!

A comparison with another case of armed rebellion -- however
unpalatable it may be to many in the country -- may help explain
the absurdity of the ban on communism.

President Sukarno had previously banned the Masyumi Party
because of his allegation that the party had been involved in the
DI/TII armed rebellion by fanatical Muslims demanding the
establishment of an Islamic republic, which lasted longer than
the Gestapu.

Yet Sukarno, while having Kartosuwiryo, leader of the
rebellion, sentenced to death by a firing squad, never banned
Islam as a religion.

Indeed, to prevent the emergence of communism, be it as an
ideology, a belief system, or a political movement in the form of
a communist party, it is not effective to ban it -- which only
serves to indicate our own lack of self-confidence and a lack of
confidence in our own ideology, beliefs, religions or our
political system. The most effective way would be to promote
social justice. The state must deliver the goods.

Thus, we can prevent the victory of the communists by pulling
the rug from under their feet. The failure of communist parties
to win majorities in general elections in Western European
countries such as France, Italy and Great Britain are cases in
point.