Thirty years after
Thirty years after
It is perhaps a bit ironic that of late, three decades after
the Army crushed and outlawed the Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI) for its part in the bloody coup of October 1965, many
people here are still wondering if the PKI has actually been
wiped out at all. Just hearing or reading our officials
persistent warnings against the latent danger of communism, one
might think that somehow the communist specter is still very much
alive and kicking these days.
Following the collapse of the communist regimes of Eastern
Europe and the transformation of China and Vietnam, which started
following the capitalist path in the early 1990s, the warning
somehow seems hollow, particularly because the authorities have
not come up with enough solid evidence to support their claims.
Yet, suddenly, in the last several months the warnings have
been amplified by a hundred decibels. Armed Forces Chief Gen.
Feisal Tanjung, for example, last month advised all regional
military commanders to raise the level of their alertness to what
he termed "increasing communist and leftist activities in
Indonesia".
One of the arguments cited for the need to always be vigilant
against the communist threat is that "it is only the communist
countries that fell apart, but communism has not crumbled".
Another indication that the communists and leftists are on the
rise, according to some officials, is the publication of memoirs
by some leftist figures in the last several months, which
allegedly tend to whitewash their relationship with the coup.
The persistent stance taken by well-known writer and this
year's Magsaysay Award winner Pramoedya Ananta Toer regarding his
leftist past has been cited as proof that he remains a "diehard".
Some officials also have warned of the danger of the "young
communists" who use the issues of human rights and the existing
social gap as a front for their activities.
To many people, however, the whole controversy is simply
confusing. It was only a few weeks ago that the government at
last bowed to popular demand to phase out the special ET (eks
tahanan politik, or former political detainees) mark from the
identity cards of some 1.3 million former communists. There is no
denying that this constituted a policy relaxation towards the
former communists. But then, why are the authorities at the same
time calling for greater alertness.
One explanation could be that three decades after the
communist coup, many of our officials are still incapable of
freeing themselves from the phenomenon of "communist phobia".
Yet, this sounds absurd. Poor as we were in 1965, we still
succeeded in crushing the communist coup. Now we are much
stronger and certainly in much better shape. Then, why should we
be wary of the remnants of the PKI?
We think that to continue to portray communists, or the PKI
remnants, as dangerous and immortal foes is to inadvertently
build a myth around them. Actually, what we should be doing is to
build confidence among the people so that we will be capable of
dealing with any threats coming from whatever direction.
The authorities should also come up with more evidence to back
up their claim that communist activities are on the rise. We are
afraid that without proper evidence many of our well-educated
young people, who have no experience whatsoever with the
communists, will think that the repeated warnings are just an
excuse to justify continuing human rights restrictions.
After 30 years, we are also aware of the fact that the coup is
still surrounded by plenty of mysteries. There are enough murky
holes around it to fill several history books. Despite an
official white book and a dozen or more accounts on the coup
written mostly by foreign writers, there are many controversies
that need to be explained.
Therefore, we support the idea of a thorough study on this
national tragedy. Perhaps, when we have acquired a better
understanding of the coup, we can finally shake the trauma of
conscience. Otherwise we are sure to be haunted by this one
specter indefinitely.