Press told to keep vigil over elements of communism

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)