To Mecca with Golkar?

JEPARA, Central Java (JP): Hundreds of Moslems going on the haj pilgrimage to Mecca were caught up in the raging political color war here yesterday.

They found it impossible to say no when the government officials that had arranged their departure coerced them into buying yellow suitcases which some claimed were of low quality.

Yellow is the color of the dominant political organization, Golkar, whose "yellowization" campaign has enraged its rivals, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

"I don't know why we were forced to buy these low-quality yellow suitcases. It wouldn't have been a big fuss if it were of high quality," said would-be pilgrim Suparlan.

The yellow suitcases drew sharp criticism from the Moslem- oriented PPP, which described the government's policy as the "politicization of the haj pilgrimage".

"It's improper to politicize the religious journey," said Maskuri, the Jepara PPP chief. "It's going too far. We protest it," he told journalists.

He said he was worried that all haj pilgrims from Central Java would be made to buy yellow suitcases.

In the color war, which has been raging since Jan. 10, PPP activists repainted white all public objects that Golkar admirers had painted yellow.

PDI activists sympathetic to PPP's cause have stepped into the battle, repainting yellow objects red and white, the colors of Indonesia's flag. (har/pan)