Jakarta – Jakarta Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Muchsin Alatas has admitted that the group handed out copies of a book on the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) titled The PKI: How and What (PKI Apa dan Bagaimana) during a joint prayer at the National Monument (Monas) last week.
“Yes, they were indeed handed out. But only 100 to 200 copies right. [The book] contain around 31 pages”, said Alatas when contacted by CNN Indonesia on Monday October 1.
Alatas said that the book, which was written by the FPI’s “Great Leader” Rizieq Shihab, is about the past brutalities of the PKI. Shihab also writes about the latent threat of the PKI, he added.
Alatas said that the book was printed in 2015. At the time, he continued, Shihab wrote the book when President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was planning to make an official apology to the victims from the PKI.
“It was printed three years ago. Not now. It was right when Pak [Mr] Jokowi planned to apologise to PKI victims”, said Alatas. As to the reasons why Shihab’s book on the PKI was handed out at the Monas event, Alatas said that it was the right moment.
As has been reported, last week’s event titled “Prayer for the Salvation of the Nation”, was followed by a public screening (nobar) of the anti-communist propaganda film The Betrayal of the September 30 Movement/PKI (Pengkhianatan Gerakan 30 September/PKI) by director Arifin C. Noer.
“Because at the end [of the event] there was a nobar of the PKI film, so they were handed out, it was the right time. There was no other motive”, said Alatas.
The Jakarta branch of the FPI organised the joint prayer at Monas in Central Jakarta on the evening of Saturday September 29. The participants prayed for the salvation of Rizieq Shihab who is still in hiding in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and has been banned from travel after overstaying his visa.
In addition to this, the participants also prayed for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Palu and Donggala, Central Sulawesi Tengah. Shihab also gave a sermon through in recorded message from Mecca.
Following the joint prayers, the organising committee held a public screening of the PKI film and handed out the books on the PKI. (bmw/sur)
Notes
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/Indonesian Communist Party), a dramatisation of the New Order’s version of the events surrounding the alleged communist coup in 1965. The film, one of the most effective pieces of propaganda produced by the Suharto dictatorship, had been a compulsory program for all stations every September 30 since its release in 1984.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was FPI Ungkap Alasan Bagi Buku PKI di Doa Bersama untuk Rizieq.]
