Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The power of Facebook to rally for social and political causes has triggered a number of left-leaning Indonesian Facebook users to re-establish the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in the virtual world.
The existence of a PKI 2010 Facebook group was first reported by news portal detik.com on Saturday. As of Sunday afternoon, the group had gathered more than 2,000 supporters.
In its information tab, the group claims it will strive to clear false allegations against the PKI, which was declared an illegal party by the New Order regime following an alleged coup d'etat attempt that cost the lives of a number of Army generals in 1965.
Following the alleged coup attempt, millions of people, said to be affiliated with the PKI, were slaughtered by security forces.
Millions were either killed, kidnapped or exiled. The children and families of these victims had to state on their identification cards that their relatives were connected with the PKI, and for decades were being discriminated against until the downfall of the New Order regime in 1998.
Ribka Tjiptaning is a victim of the PKI stigma who managed to survive the repressive New Order. She is a Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator at the House of Representatives.
"Back then, we had to survive using whatever means necessary. I went through college working day and night, doing everything I could from pick-pocketing to working as a bus conductor. I hunted mice and cats for food. The only person supporting me was my mother," she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Ribka also said she considered the criminalization of the PKI was wrong. "A political party can only die if its members choose to disband through a congress. The PKI, once the largest party in the country, has never been officially disbanded through a congress," she said.
"If we are a real democracy, then we should allow people to re-establish communist-based parties like the PKI. Let the people judge whether the party's ideas suit them or not," she added.
A researcher from Imparsial Human Rights Watch, Bhatara Ibnu Reza, said the existence of a pro-PKI group on Facebook showed that communist ideas had managed to draw the attention of a younger generation, who have sat up and taken notice despite a prohibition by the government.
"This group is a reaction to the government's policy of banning everything communist-related. The government must realize that banning a party does not necessarily mean it will stop the ideas from developing. Ideas, once absorbed, will never die," he said.
"So, we should all calm down about communism. I believe Indonesians in general are smart enough to determine which ideologies suit them. Let them choose. I believe freedom of expression should always be embraced, upheld and respected," he added.
A number of political figures, however, have supported the ban against the PKI, saying it was still relevant. "We think the [PKI] must be forbidden. Not only because party officials committed treason, but also because communism is antithetical to democratic ideals," Anas Urbaningrum from the Democratic Party said.
Golkar Party's Azis Syamsudin said the existence of the PKI was a violation of the Constitution and therefore the ban was not debatable.
A legislator from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), Akbar Faisal, said if the government really wanted to prevent communism from growing in the country, it should truly serve the people and fulfill their basic needs.
"The government must be able to resolve the basic issues such as poverty and education, otherwise, Marxist ideologies have plenty of opportunities to take hold in the minds of the people," he said.
There are also several other groups supporting the PKI in Facebook as well as those critical of communism and the PKI.
In addition to the alleged 1965 coup attempt, the PKI had launched an earlier coup attempt in 1948 against the Indonesian government, which was facing Dutch aggression at the time. The PKI had also tried to stage a revolt against the Dutch colonial authorities in 1926.