The threat of communism continues its resurgence.
12th June. General Djoko Santoso of the army said that his intelligence men had discovered that a number of MP’s in Jakarta were communist cadres.
Meanwhile Major General Agustadi Susongko said that sports clothing with the hammer and sickle logo had been discovered in the locker room of a high school in the swish and swanky suburb of Menteng, in Jakarta. He also alleged that more than 100 House members were connected to the banned PKI, the Communist Party of Indonesia.
On the same day Syamsir Siregar, head of State Intelligence, said that the numbers of meetings of communists had risen sharply. Indonesia had to be on guard, he said, against the rise of communism. He named the towns of Blitar, Bogor, and Bandung, all on Java, as particular hotspots of communist nefariousness. He said that those who attended such meetings did so secretly and pretended to discuss innocent issues. (see Sundanese Nationalism, bottom half.)
There is the possibility that communists are supporting worker demonstrations.
(Ada kemungkinan orang-orang komunis mendukung demonstrasi buruh.)
he warned.
Marshal Djoko Suyanto of the TNI denied that the attention given to the communist threat by military men was an attempt by the armed forces to reassert its political role. Djoko told the House Commission I on foreign affairs and defence that as servants of the state, senior Army officers were forbidden from commenting on political matters.
The Indonesian Military already has a procedure that bars its members from making such statements, especially those regarding politics.
Lawmaker Effendi Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) however was not satisfied with this and said Agustadi should be censored for his comments because the military had no place in politics in the reform era.
The TNI Law clearly describes the military as a mere instrument of the state.
Hasyim Muzadi of the NU always has something to say on current (non) issues and he opined that society must remain on guard against communism. But he said if communists wanted to meet together no action should be taken against them, unless they acted in ways that endangered the nation.
Political expert Deny JA said that communism was not laku in Indonesia, not popular, any longer and there was no need to worry. Some people still pretend to however.
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