Getting rid of a bad image which has long been planted in the minds of society is not an easy matter. The polemic over the issue of the revoking of MPRS Decree Number XXV/1996 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings has yet to end. The stigma which sticks to families of ex-political prisoners (ex-tapols) or Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) tapols, is also yet to disappear.
Outside of the political debates among the politicians, which is one of the agenda items of the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly at the moment, society itself is still ambiguous in viewing the issue of the PKI and communism.
On the one had, society is able to accept living together with ex-political prisoners who were involved in the G30S/PKI affair(1) or their families. However, on the other hand, society is still afraid about what roles they should be allowed to play, particularly if they take on social and political roles in society, even if they just become heads of neighborhood associations.
From the results of the survey this time around, the half-hearted impression which was shown by respondents in accepting the existence of ex-tapols, should [be expected to] have already been rehabilitated since the era of the government of President B.J. Habibie(2).
More than three quarters of respondents had no problem if ex-tapols or their families live among them in society. The majority of respondents also considered that putting a special code on the identity cards (KTP) of ex-tapols or their families was unnecessary. However more than a half (52 per cent) of respondents still had problems if ex-tapols are given the same rights [as other people] to be elected as neighbourhood or community heads for example.
In the world of politics, respondents rejection of a role for ex-tapols is even more visible. No less than 72 per cent of respondents disagreed if they [were to be allowed to] hold government jobs or become government officials.
This was not just against ex-tapols. With regard to their families, more than half (55 per cent) of respondents had a problem if family members of ex-tapols held government jobs or become government officials.
It is difficult to see how ex-tapols or their families can become involved again in the political world of the nation. Society still does not fully trust the political role of ex-tapols or their families.
This was apparent from the attitude of 74 per cent of respondents, who disagreed if ex-tapols formed a political party, even if such a political party was free of communist ideology.
If for example ex-tapols or their families play a role in other existing political parties, it appears that it would be difficult for them to hold seats in parliament as representatives of the people.
At least 70 per cent of respondents disagreed if ex-tapols become members of parliament. And 59 per cent of respondents disagreed if family members of ex-tapols become members of parliament.
Apparently, for the majority of the public, communism is still viewed as a concept which is frightening, bad, and be of concern. This stigma appears to still influence how attitudes are formed in viewing the rights of ex-tapols to live or play a role in line with other members of society.
From this survey, at least 69 per cent of respondents view communism as something bad. Only 24 per cent of respondents no longer viewed communism as a threat and considered communism not to be an issue.
In general, [the results of] this survey are not very different compared to a survey of the same kind last year. Apparently, respondents assessment of communism and respondents way of viewing ex-tapols and their family has not experienced any real change. In last year’s survey, 77 per cent of respondents were of the view that communism is something bad.
The stigma which clings to ex-tapols and their families is difficult to get rid off if a fear and an excessively negative view, which can tend to become a social paranoia against communism, continues to survive and be maintained in society.
As a consequence, it has become difficult for ex-tapols and their family, even their grand-children and great grand-children to have a normal life as ordinary members of society and fully enjoy their rights, especially the right to participate in political life.
Certainly, there are some who are of the view that at the moment, that for the younger generation who did not directly experience the PKI rebellion in 1965, it will be easier to be more moderate in viewing the issue of the PKI and communism.
The younger generation therefore has more potential for participating in a process of reconciliation with the families and descendants of ex-tapols or people directly involved in the G30S/PKI affair.
However, what was actually found [in the survey] was different. The survey indicated that there was no meaningful difference in the way communism is viewed between respondents in the younger age group (17-34 years) and respondents aged above 55 years who were 17 years old at the time of the G30S/PKI affair.
Just looking at the results, no less than 27 per cent of respondents aged 17-24 years disagreed if ex-tapols are allowed to live normally in society. Meanwhile, among respondents aged above 55 years, only 19 per cent were found to reject the presence of ex-tapols in society.
Apparently, the fear of communism has succeeded in being inherited from one generation to next. Moreover, though the New Order government [of former President Suharto], this inheritance appears to still be maintained by jargon such as the latent danger of communism, the obligatory showing of the G30S/PKI film(3), and because the communist label was indiscriminately stuck on anything [or anyone] that was critical of the Suharto government at that time.
Perhaps, this has been the one and only success of the New Order which remains, its war on “-ismes”. Suharto’s success in the era of the New Order, is not easily to leave behind, even after the nation has entered the era of reformasi along with all of the euphoria of freedom. (BE Satrio Litbang Kompas)
Notes
1. G30S/PKI: Gerakan 30 September/Partai Komunis Indonesia, the September 30 Movement/Indonesian Communist Party. An acronym referring to the alleged coup attempt in 1965 which the New Order regime blamed on the PKI. G30S was a grouping of middle ranking officers lead by Lieutenant Colonel Untung, who kidnapped and killed six generals whom they accused of being members of a “Council of Generals” allegedly organising a coup against Indonesia’s founding President Sukarno.
2. President B.J. Habibie was former President Suharto’s hand-picked successor to replace him after he was forced to resign from office in 1998.
3. G30S/PKI film: In September 1998, the government dropped the requirement for all TV stations to broadcast the film “Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI” (The Betrayal of the September 30 Movement/PKI), a dramatization about the alleged communist coup. The film had been a compulsory program for all stations on September 30 since its release in 1984.
[Translated by James Balowski]
