Press told to keep vigil over elements of communism
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko warns that the Indonesian press must remain on guard against the communist elements which continually try to infiltrate it.
"Although communism no longer has the right to live in Indonesia ... we have to keep our vigil because its followers do not know the word 'give up'," Harmoko said in a speech before conferring awards on seven journalists for their meritorious service in upholding the concept of "Pancasila press" yesterday.
"It is said that communism never dies, it only rises or ebbs," he said, adding that in the field of mass communication, the communist elements would keep on "exploiting situations" using the ways of the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
"They will use these to divide our unity and disrupt our national stability, justifying anything for their ends."
He cited conspiracies, slander, provocation and other unethical actions as examples of communist tactics.
The recipients of this year's Pancasila Press Award are Mohammad TWH, former reporter of Mimbar Umum in Medan; H. Basril Djabar, chief editor of Singgalang daily in Padang; Winotoparartho, deputy chief editor of Berita Buana in Jakarta; H. Tahar, general manager of Pos Kota daily in Jakarta; A.J. Bungin, deputy chief editor of Suara Karya daily in Jakarta; Max Maramis, chief editor of Manado Post daily in Manado; and Moch. Anis, chief editor of Mimbar Karya in Ujung Pandang.
The awards presentation was timed to coincide with the commemoration of Pancasila Sanctity Day on Oct. 1. The date was set aside to mark the survival of the state ideology in the face of the bloody coup attempt blamed on the PKI on the night of Sept. 30, 1965.
The people presented with the awards are journalists whose works have been recognized as contributions to the strengthening of Pancasila during those turbulent times after the coup attempt was thwarted by the military.
One of the recipients, Winotoparartho, told The Jakarta Post how some of the journalists, including him, had to put their lives on the line for the sake of publishing stories which revealed the communist's intrigue.
Winoto, who at that time was a reporter at the Berita Indonesia daily, said his life was threatened when he wrote a story which a communist leader, D.N. Aidit, said was slanderous.
The late president Sukarno, he said, took Aidit's words and blasted Winoto's superiors and threatened to close the publication unless he could "prove within two days the truth in the story".
The PKI was banned in 1966 after its last attempt to take power. The first attempt was in 1948 at the height of Indonesia's independence struggle with the Dutch.
Harmoko used the occasion yesterday to remind all journalists that they need to be more professional in order to face the increasingly harder challenges in the future.
The second 25-year development phase, which Indonesia embarked on early this year, would call for knowledgeable and professional journalists, he said.
"Without professionalism and knowledge, journalists will be hampered by their own limitations," he said. (swe)