Soekarno and Communism

I found this article from a piece of a newspaper from The H. B Jassin Library in Central Jakarta. The text above is quite interesting because it us the result of an interview by an unnamed G. B. S journalist with Indonesia's first president, I.r. Soekarno, who was often referred to as Bung Karno. 

In the interview in March 1965, there were three questions related to Bung Karno's views on communism. The missing information in this text is that the author is unknown and there is no clear date when the text was published. This text talks about communism from Soekarno's perspective. Why should it be him? In my opinion, the journalist used Soekarno as a source because he was one of Indonesia's founding fathers and also a very influential figure. 

Communist ideology has been considered to jeopardize the unity of the Republic of Indonesia because it contradicts the values contained in Pancasila as the basis of the state. But looking at Bung Karno's answers, he sounded like he didn't mind the existence of communism in Indonesia.

In the first question, we can see the name of American president John F. Kennedy mentioned. Bung Karno had received an invitation from the 35th President of the US and paid a visit to Washington DC on April 24, 1961. Kennedy asked about Indonesia's position and political views that leaned towards communism because the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) was the fourth largest political party in Indonesia, which according to Soekarno was a collection of revolutionary nationalists. 

At that time the Cold War was underway. Politics and ideologies around the world were heating up, especially between the liberal camp and the communist camp. The United States did not want Indonesia to be influenced by the Soviet Union. Bung Karno said, if Kennedy was against communism, then give him great support because he was Indonesia's "best bulwark" against communism. This sentence implies a statement that he is also against communism. But why, when interviewed four years later, did Bung Karno answer that he did not oppose it unless communism caused chaos in Indonesia?

In his second answer, Soekarno explained that he was against communism which was radical and threatened the Republic of Indonesia. Soekarno analogized it as if he was a Muslim, but he did not like "Islam" that rebelled and committed violence like Darul Islam. The movement aimed to make the Republic of Indonesia a theocracy with Islam as the basis of the state. The DI/TII rebellion led by Kartosoewirjo took place from 1953 to 1962 in several regions such as Aceh, Central Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan. It ended with the disbandment of the group.

Then Soekarno's last answer stated that the communists in Indonesia did not give him any difficulties at all because during that time the PKI did not commit chaos except for the Madiun rebellion in 1948. Reporting from the official Kemdikbud website, the Madiun PKI is explained as a movement that aims to overthrow the legitimate government of the Republic of Indonesia and replace the Pancasila state foundation with communism.

The movement was led by Amir Sjarifuddin and Musso as a form of protest against the Soekarno government for signing the Renville agreement which was detrimental to the Republic of Indonesia and the end of Amir Sjarifuddin's term as prime minister of the RIS (Republic of Indonesia Union). Bung Hatta became the next prime minister and formed the Hatta Cabinet without including people from the left. From this, I conclude that Soekarno viewed the PKI as "safe" and that he saw no signs that communism would cause trouble. Unfortunately, Soekarno did not know that exactly six months after this interview, communism became strictly prohibited in Indonesia because the PKI had carried out its biggest coup against the government regime through the G30S PKI incident.

There is something a little odd in this text, namely in the sentence Soekarno "the rebellion in Madiun, I was the one who fought communism" is written in capital letters throughout. I assume that this was done as a form of affirmation that Soekarno was really against communism, or as a highlight of his words that did not object to communism in Indonesia but contradicted the statement that he was the one who fought the PKI rebellion in Madiun in 1948. This can be likened to a plot hole in the story. 

Then Soekarno clearly mentioned that one of the radical elements that endangered the unity of the Republic of Indonesia was Darul Islam, but did not include the PKI by saying it was "a rebellion in Madiun". This is clearly a form of Soekarno's bias towards the PKI, which tends to privilege it.

Although the author is unknown, I assume that this text was written by someone who was against communism. The author wants readers to know that the image of Soekarno is not always what we have imagined. This text seems to want to reveal to people that Soekarno was someone who was "two-faced". Because there is a saying that history is always written by the winner, only the good history is popular among the public. There is some dark history that is deliberately hidden and the author wants people to be aware of it. History cannot be seen from just one perspective, but must be seen from many.

All the questions asked to Soekarno in the interview indirectly asked him whether he was pro or contra communism. The answer Soekarno gave was neutral. He is not a communist, but if you read more carefully, it seems that he did have a slight leaning towards communism. 

The writer of this article disagree with Bung Karno's view on communism in Indonesia because in my opinion, Indonesia is a country in the neutral camp that should not favor the liberal camp or the communist camp during the cold war at that time. It is not appropriate for Indonesia to declare its partiality to one of the camps even in the slightest form, because it is not in accordance with the practice of Pancasila and the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution which is the ideological, moral and legal basis of this state system.