Moslem leaders united in communist fight
JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leaders are taking seriously President Soeharto's warning that "formless" communist organizations are out to poison the public.
Abdurrahman Wahid, who is chairman of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, said here Saturday that his organization has flatly rejected rumors being spread to pit social groups against each other.
"NU refuses all those rumors," he said in a ceremony to inaugurate the newly-elected executive board of GP Ansor, the youth wing of the NU. "I call on NU members not to be provoked by those rumors."
"NU must always be aware of current conditions," said Abdurrahman, who is more popularly known as Gus Dur. "People who spread such rumors... are an example of the members of the formless organizations that Pak Harto warned of."
Soeharto warned on Friday that the public, particularly youths, must watch out for a "formless organization" has been active in spreading communist teachings in Indonesia.
Soeharto said that the group preys on young people and virtually conducts its activities "door to door". Another characteristic of the organization is that it often exploits human rights issues, justice and democracy in its preachings, Soeharto said.
Soeharto's warning has been echoed by many officials and national leaders. Army Chief Gen. R. Hartono told some 1,500 Moslem propagators in the Hidayatullah Moslem boarding school in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, that the nation, particularly Moslems, has to be wary of a possible resurgence of communism.
Prominent Moslem scholar K.H. Noer Muhammad Iskandar, principal of the Asshidiqiyah Moslem boarding school who hosted the GP Ansor ceremony, said that Moslems must continue to monitor the movements of the formless organization.
"It's possible that the once-jailed communist people are still out for political revenge against the leadership of the New Order administration," Noer said.
He called on all parties to close ranks. One of the surest ways to contain the insidious campaign of communism, he said, is to find prompt resolutions to protracted conflicts among political groups.
Both the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party and the Moslem-based United Development Party have been beset by various internal problems, while the ruling Golkar has recently experienced a hiccup in its relationship with its backbone faction, the Armed Forces.
"Once the ranks loosen, the satan of the PKI will enter," he said, referring to the now-banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
Senior ulema Ilyas Ruchiyat, who is also chairman of NU's law- making body, supported President Soeharto. He also said that the best way to curb the spread of communism is to improve the people's welfare, spirituality, behavior and faith in God.
GP Ansor's new executive board is chaired by veterinarian M. Iqbal Assegaf, who will be assisted by Secretary-General Amin Said Husni and seven deputy chairmen.
Assegaf said that the organization once played an important role in the fight against communism in the mid-1960s. The stance of the organization now, he pointed out, was similar to that of NU and the other Moslem leaders.
"We have forgiven what the PKI did to our parents and brothers (in 1965), but we must never forget that their ideology could penetrate in any situation, in any condition or form," Assegaf said.
Along with the new executive board, GP Ansor's board of patrons was also inaugurated.
Abdurrahman Wahid and Ilyas Ruchiyat were conspicuously absent from the lineup of the board of patrons. Instead, it will be manned by, among others, Chalid Mawardi and Slamet Effendy Yusuf, both of whom are affiliated with Golkar. (swe)