MOUNTING WITCH-HUNT IN INDONESIA
The officer caste of the Indonesian army, headed by General Nasution, is driving toward consolidation of its seizure of power, attempting to smash the Communist party and completely eliminate it as a potential political rival. President Sukarno, seeking to re~ establish the former balance on which he maintained his personal rule, has sought to stem the red-baiting but up to now has been unable to achieve anything effective; and, in fact, he appears to be a captive of the generals who are really running things.
Among the blows, delivered either directly by the generals or by "spontaneous mobs"* inspired by them and by reactionary religious organizations, have been the padlocking of Communist party headquarters throughout the country and the burning down of the main head~ quarters in Djakarta, the banning of the Communist Youth movement, the banning of the Communist-led All-Indonesian Central Organization of Trade Unions [SOBSI], the firing of all members of SOBSI who carried out any kind of protest actions in factories, plantations or
= Gow
offices; the suspension of members of parliament belonging to the Communist party; and, finally, the banning of the Communist party, first in Djakarta, then in the other military districts in Java, and finally throughout the country.
Up to now not a single leading body of the Indonesian Conmmun-~ ist party has issued a word of protest against the mounting witche hunt. Reports have appeared in the press. that the Communist party is preparing to respond to the repression with defensive military measures, Up to now, however, the rumors, originating primarily in Malaysia and Singapore, have not been confirmed.
Even more striking was the long silence of the Soviet and Chinese bureaucracies over the persecution visited on the Indonesian Communist party. This criminal attitude began to resemble complai= sance in face of the attempted destruction of what up to now has been boasted to be the biggest Communist party in the world outside of the workers states themselves.
Peking finally found its voice and on October 20 denounced the “atmosphere of terror" fostered by "right-wing army generals."
On the same day, the Kremlin decided to go on record, An editorial in Pravda denounced the witch-hunt; and five days later Pravda again registered a complaint.
Peking's embarrassed wriggling is to be explained not only by the desire to keep up friendly relations with the Sukarno regime but also by the difficulty it faces in explaining how such a catastrophe could hit a party that has faithfully followed the “teachings of Mao
The Kremlin, of course, is adhering to its line of “peaceful coexistence" which obviously includes buttoning your mouth while the Indonesian generals, backed by the CIA, go to work on the Communist party with knife and cleaver.
And "the army is not losing a minute," according to J, Jacquet- Francillon, Far East special correspondent of the Paris daily Le Figaro. Writing from Djakarta October 20, he reports:
“The hunt for Communists is being pursued night and day from one end of the Indonesian archipelago to the other. Everywhere the buildings belonging to the PKI are burning like haystacks. Here and there, popular demonstrations inspired by the military command are taking on an outright anti-Chinese character. In the suburbs of Djakarta, near the port of Priok, the businesses of Chinese merchants have been sacked.
"The number of summary arrests in the capital are said to have now reached more than 4,000. No dependable figure can be obtained for the country as a whole,"
"Jee
In a rather cynical way, Jacquet~Francillon professed amaze~ ment in a dispatch the following day over the way delegates to a con= ference backed by both Moscow and Peking in Djakarta held their hands over their eyes, ears and mouth in face of what was going on.
The gathering was sponsored as an "International Conference for the Liquidation of Foreign Military Bases." Some 160 delegates, representing 54 nations, met at the Hotel Indonesia, "From time to time, paratroopers entered this holy of holies to make disturbing identity checks, Saturday [October 16], on the eve of the opening of. the conference, without any warrant, they arrested five Indonesian members of the gecretariat,."
Sukarno personally opened the conference with an impassioned speech against "Necolim"™ (neocolonialism, colonialism and imperial~ ism). ;
Despite the presence of the paratroopers, the delegates, according to Le Figaro's correspondent, were again smiling by October 21 when they learned that 10,000 Moslem youth were organizing a march against the British embassy. "But alongside the vengeful slogans against imperialism, the demonstrators carried banners on which one could read: ‘Down with the PKI!! or tHang the Communists.'! The diplomats of her Gracious Majesty were not able to enjoy this spectacle because the army coolly stopped the parade before it reached its goal, A leader then harangued the crowd, shouting: 'We must break all relations with.People's China.! The listeners responded with delirious shouts: ‘Bravo! Down with Necolim,."
The army has already begun to move in the field of foreign policy. Barter trade is to be resumed with Singapore, thus renewing a link with the capitalist market in Asia which was broken by Sukarno when London and Kuala Lumpur decided to create Malaysia.
_