The Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was banned by the government after they were accused of launching a coup d'etat attempt on 30 September 1965, causing the death of 7 high ranking Army officials.Today, more than 44 years have passed after the tragedy and PKI seemed to be trying to return to Indonesia, this time through the online social networking media Facebook, under the name of Partai Komunis Indonesia 2010.
The page used the Hammer & Sickle symbol as avatar and mentioned that PKI has rebelled against the Dutch colonialist in 1926. And after the Indonesian independence in 1945, it masterminded the 1948 rebellion at Madiun, East Java. It also mentioned that it is not responsible for the 1965 coup d'etat attempt, it said instead that the incident was planned by General Soeharto and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
When I visited the page this afternoon the page has 1,477 fans and mentioned about two meetings that have been held by PKI 2010 with comments from quite a lot of viewers. In spite of the fact it called itself Partai Komunis Indonesia 2010, but its website, http://www.communist-party.org.uk, indicate that it is based in the United Kingdom.
For details, please click here, here and here.
It would be very interesting to know who is (or are) behind this Facebook page, why has it been made, and how come so many fans ? Could it be that some people are sick and tired of all the Neo-Lib stuffs ?
10 comments:
Nice is the context-sensual ad from facebook: "Enter the Mafia!" lol
The Brain,
Yeah. But I wish that you mentioned your blog so that I can visit it.,
Interesting. Though it is a pity that it is "communist party in exile".
Though you must have lost some of your wit to subscribe to communism ( in my opinion), of course it should not be forbidden. As a matter of fact Marx ( not Lenin) may have to tell some news to neo-liberals indeed.
Colson,
Since 1998 Indonesia has transformed into a liberal democratic society.
But there is still a valid 1966 decision of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which forbid any kind of Communism/Marxism/Leninism.
Actually, after the disintegration of Soviet Union & allies, and the reforms in China, Vietnam, I felt such ideology is not frightening anymore.
People would not go for them if there are: justice, good law enforcement, enough food/drinks/ housing/education/job and other basic necessities.
Harry...
Communism is on the wane throughout the world. There is no need to ban the communist party in Indonesia.
That said, there is still a need to revisit the official version of 1965 / 1966 put forward by the government and taught in Indonesian schools to this day.
Perhaps if this Facebook page stimulates debate about the PKI, their role in the G30S, and Indonesian history, then this might not be such a bad thing.
Despite the tragedy of G30S being some 44 years into the past, the wounds in many respects remain open and there is still fear of communism. This is in spite of most Indonesians watching the cold war end and the Soviet Union crumble on their televisions (either at home or at the warung).
Didn't Gus Dur make moves to remove the ban on teaching of Marxist philosophy? I am pretty sure that the philosophy of Marx, Lenin, and others was being taught in Indonesia...
Rob,
The threat of Communism is a thing of the past. Any government that can provide what are needed by majority of people: social welfare, justice, law supremacy, do not have to fear such threat.
Re: G30S tragedy, it's about time to study what really happened especially there has been a CIA dossier which revealed new version about it.
Gus Dur has made effort to remove the MPR's ban, but failed. Maybe because the timing was too early.
Parah banget..
Udah tau dilarang komunis di indonesia tapi kok masih nekat
Diponegoro Adventure,
Iya, entah apa dasarnya.y
Their page was deleted by its owner. Apparently they were just joking around.
But, then a new PKI page just popped up!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Partai-Komunis-Indonesia-2010/246339756793
Anonymous,
Thank for visiting & commenting my blog anonymously. I wish that you have mentioned your name so that I can visit your blog.
I would also like to thank you for informing about the deletion of the PKI facebook page and the new one.
I think that if people do not make a big fuss, it would just go away.
Post a Comment