'New leftist' fears questioned by legislators
'New leftist' fears questioned by legislators
JAKARTA (JP): The military's fresh warning on the dangers of a "new leftist" movement was greeted yesterday with skepticism by many people, including two prominent legislators.
The warning came on Sunday from Maj. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, the assistant to the Armed Forces' Chief of Socio-Political Affairs, who said that the "new leftist" movement was even more dangerous than communism itself because it aims to overthrow the legal government but has no concept of a state of its own.
Syarwan, during a speech in Bandung, did not mention the names of who these "new leftist" people, but he categorized them as "anti-establishment".
Yesterday, legislators A.A. Oka Mahendra of Golkar and Aisyah Amini of the United Development Party questioned Syarwan's concept of the "new leftists", and feared that by including anti- establishment people, the military could stretch the argument to include all critics of the government.
Oka said that while he agrees that anti-establishment movements can endanger stability, officials should make it clear what they meant by "new leftists" in Indonesia.
"It would be unfair to brand people who have different opinions from the government as 'leftist' and 'anti- establishment'" he told The Jakarta Post.
Pro-democracy, environmental and human rights groups in Indonesia all have noble causes, which are to improve the nation's record in their respective fields, Oka said, and added it is natural for these groups to criticize the government, as long as they do it in a fair and responsible fashion.
"That there are people who oppose the government is something that you must accept," Aisyah once said on a separate occasion.
"The main thing is how they convey their opposition to the government. If they use illegitimate means, then they are out of place," she said. "So far, in my limited knowledge, I haven't seen any such movement."
Mulyana W. Kusumah of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said the term "leftist", which was first coined to refer to one that sought radical changes in culture and political systems in the West in the 1970s, is alien to contemporary Indonesia.
Even the student revolts in 1974 and 1978 were not inspired by the leftist movement of the West at that time. Rather, they were fueled by political and social ills here, Mulyana said.
"Pro-democracy, environmental and human rights activism in Indonesia aims to seek reformation, not revolution," he told The Jakarta Post.
Mulyana said Syarwan's target was obscure, but speculated that it was probably meant to serve as a warning to the public to be careful about government critics.
Arief Budiman, one of the most ardent critics of the government, said Syarwan's warning was another attempt by the military to silence the government's critics, and was something which he would not take seriously. "I'll just laugh it off," he said.
Arief defended the "new left" movement, saying that it has brought fresh ideas on how to make society more just and fair.
The Harvard-trained sociologist said the "new left" was far more complex than what Syarwan tried to paint, and it is this lack of understanding that has made people in the military despise the concept.
He also pointed out that the current New Order administration was born out of an anti-establishment movement in 1966 involving students, the people and the military itself.
Arief said that criticism from outside the establishment should be respected because it is often more objective. (pan/imn/har/mds)