Popularising Marxism in Indonesia
Since the coming to power of Indonesia's brutal New Order regime in 1965, discussion and dissemination of Marxist ideas has been banned in Indonesia. However, on November 20, 200 students and activists gathered at the Bandung Institute of Technology campus for a seminar on the ideas of Karl Marx and their relevance in Indonesia. Green Left Weekly's EDI RUSLAN spoke with SUDIARTO, a student activist from the Bandung-based Indonesian Student Movement for Change (GMIP) and an organiser of the seminar.
"The academic study of Marxist ideas is now legal in Indonesia", explained Sudiarto. "However, in practice, a genuine study of Marxism has not been possible."
For the last 32 years, the people of Indonesia have faced a barrage of propaganda from the regime warning against "the danger of latent communism". Marxism is always identified with the communism of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was smashed under General Suharto's government (around 1 million PKI members and sympathisers were killed) and subsequently banned.
"Every opposition power towards the New Order regime", Sudiarto explained, "is oppressed by being labelled extreme right, reactionary Islamic, or extreme left, communist."
This tactic was used by the Suharto regime in its efforts to justify the banning of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) in 1996. Several PRD members were tried for subversion and jailed.
The PRD was accused of being the mastermind behind riots that occurred on July 27, 1996. "The accusation that the PRD adheres to communist ideology was propagated by the regime to kill the strength of the pro-democracy movement in Indonesia", stated Sudiarto.
Student movement
With the fall of Suharto, accompanied by a political liberalisation, the discussion of left-wing ideas has greatly increased, although the continuing grip of the Indonesian armed forces on political life still intimidates activists. Sudiarto explained that, at their actions, student organisations almost always proclaim a left-wing program and "can be heard to yell 'revolusi' with their left fist raised".
The November 20 seminar on Marxism featured speakers Franz Magnis-Suseno, a senior lecturer at the Driyarkara Senior School of Philosophy, and Haris Rusli Moti, national chairperson of the PRD. Magnis is the author of The Ideas Of Karl Marx: from Utopian Socialism to the Dispute about Revisionism, the first book about Marxism published in the era of the New Order.
The event was organised by the Political Economy and History Study Club at the Bandung Institute of Technology, the Social Movement and Analysis Group at the Senior School of Technology, and the National Technology Institute Student Association in Bandung. These three study clubs were initiated by student movement committees in Bandung which are affiliated to the National Students League for Democracy. Sudiarto explained, "The study clubs see their role as 'legal organisations', able to operate with greater freedom and access to facilities on the campuses, for propagating democratic socialist ideas".
The seminar was attended by 200 people, including students from campuses other than the three where there are study clubs. "Student enthusiasm was very high", Sudiarto told Green Left Weekly. "However, from the discussion it was evident that comprehension about Marxism amongst students in still confused. Marxism is still misinterpreted as the practice of Marxism in the former Soviet Union, which was distorted by Stalin." This form of socialism "was characterised by repression of political freedom and the dominance of state bureaucracy", Sudiarto pointed out.
Sudiarto explained, "In the student bodies themselves there are many that still have a false understanding of Marxism. Many students question the relevance of the theories of Karl Marx to the modern era, arguing that ideas about class struggle put forward by Marx have not come true." The ideas of European social democracy, as expressed in Anthony Giddens' book The Third Way, have gained influence with many students.
Religion
Other students, coming from an Islamic perspective, sought to discredit Marxism by claiming that it "is just 'rhetoric' because Marx never intended to analyse religion", said Sudiarto. However, Marx's statement that 'religion is the opiate of the masses' must be understood in relation to Marx's commentary about the ideas of Feuerbach about the evolution of religion.
"Islam, if seen from an historical perspective, represented opposition towards the economic system of slavery in the Arabic peninsula. Yet, in the course of history, Islam developed into many variations and was finally coopted by feudal-monarchic power."
Sudiarto said that, while the Islamic religion has a strong hold on student consciousness (and the consciousness of people in general in Indonesia), "there are many examples of Muslim activists who have chosen a leftist course in struggling against class oppression". He cited the example of Haris, who was formerly a leading activist in the Islamic Students Association in Yogyakarta (a right-wing student organisation).
Sudiarto argued that it is essential for left-wing students to begin campaigning for support for Marxist ideas. "From the position of the student movement, Marxism is a real alternative ... because history indicates that it is left-wing/Marxist movements that are most consistent in fighting the oppression of the people, such as the workers' and farmers' movement organised by Red Sarekat Islam (SI-Merah) and the PKI.
"The student movement, without joining with the masses, will only produce change at the level of the political elite, without changing the political and economic structure on the scale that is needed.
"The new government of Gus Dur has promised democratisation. Unless we can awaken in the people a determination to reopen the gates to a democratic revolution, talk of democratisation will remain hollow rhetoric. Popularising Marxist ideas, which still remain taboo, is an important step in this direction."