TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Sutiyoso dismissed a rumor saying that the recently-sprawled communism issue was created to accommodate interests of certain groups. The issue sparked debates among public, activists, retired military officers and ministsers.
As a result, the two sides held two different symposiums of the 1965 tragedy.
“The symposium was initiated by public. I’m just looking at the bright side,” Sutiyoso told Tempo on Thursday, June 9, 2016.
According to Sutiyoso, the 1965 tragedy-themed symposium, the seizure of books suspected to contain communist ideology and the plan to dig mass graveyard were triggered by a concern over the return of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
“People are afraid that communism will return,” he said.
Earlier, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan mulled reconciliation of the 1965 tragedy to confirm that the government was not involved in the genocide. However, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu rejected the idea due to a concern over a conflict among public.
Ahmad Basarah, deputy secretary of the central executive board of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), on June 3, 2016 asked BIN to investigate the source of the rumor. Ahmad viewed that it was necessary to figure out the motive behind rumor.
However, Sutiyoso called on public not to overreact to the rumor, since the government has anticipated the possibility of the PKI’s return.
“The government continues to monitor the PKI movement, and we know how to handle it,” Sutiyoso claimed.
YOHANES PASKALIS
