TEMPO.CO, Bandung-Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil has his say on the issue of communist revival in Indonesia. He believed that the regulation that prohibit communist teachings in Indonesia, such as the Decree of Provisional People’s Consultative Assembly (Tap MPRS) XXV/1966, is sufficient to squash the illegal ideas.
“PKI [Indonesian Communist Party] has been dissolved. So, factually, there is no official body [of it]. The Tap MPRS has stipulated the prohibition of communism and Marxism,” Ridwan Kamil said yesterday, May 23, 2016.
Ridwan Kamil understands that the state is wary of communist revival. According to him, panic measures taken by the state has lead to dynamics in educational institutions that study or analyse communism as a part of world history.
“The dynamics is in the interpretation on the ground. I think, supporting communism is definitely prohibited. But any study, particularly in campus, must be viewed objectively, because campus is a place for scientific studies of any subject,” he noted.
As an academician, Ridwan Kamil urges the government to objectively view the issue of communism. Because many people still don’t understand about the communist symbols.
“The symbols that has emerged must be studied further, is it only for style or otherwise. For example, when Miss Indonesia went to Vietnam, she wore a shirt with hammer-sickle symbol, maybe without any intention to promote it, but [because] she didn’t understand it,” he said.
The Bandung Mayor considers that the subject of communism study in educational institutions should never be prohibited. “It’s a campus. Outside of campus, it’d be a different story. Is it only for style or part of propaganda, the point is we have to be wiser in viewing it. Personally, I think PKI is dead, so we have to be completely wary, but also have to be objective. We can’t oversimplify it,” he said.
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