Communist Party banned in Indonesia (Canberra Times, 19 Oktober 1965)

The Canberra Times (1965-10-19) - Communist Party banned in Indonesia Source: Trove, National Library of Australia - https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105867929 Date retrieved: 2026-10-17 OCR text (uncorrected) follows. 19 Oct 1965 - Communist Party banned in Indonesia Canberra Times (ACT: 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 19 October 1965, page 1 Communist Party banned in Indonesia SINGAPORE, Monday (AAP). — Radio Djakarta reported tonight that the Indonesian Communist Party — the PKI — and some of its affiliated organisations had been banned. The broadcast, monitored in Singapore by AAP-Reuter and the Associated Press, said the order was announced by Major-General Hadikasumo, commanding officer of the Djakarta area. The broadcast said that the PKI affiliates covered by the ban included the Pemuda Rakjat (the Communist Party's youth movement), Gerwani (the women's wing), and the big Communist-dominated Sobsi trade union organisation. All have been prime targets of the Army-inspired anti-Communist campaign that followed the crushing of the Communist-supported October 1 coup d'etat attempted in Djakarta. Monitors here quoted Radio Djakarta as listing six other political organisations, all believed to be linked with the Communist Party. They included the Barisan Tani Indonesia, the peasants' wing of the PKI, and the Konsentrasi Gerakan Mahasiswa, tentatively identified here as a [Unreadable] student movement. The ban appeared to be a major victory for the right-wing Army and its drive to smash the Communist movement that had become strongly entrenched. Protest by China The PKI claimed some three million members plus several million more supporters, making it the biggest Communist party outside the Soviet and Chinese blocs. Reports of the ban on the party in Indonesia followed strong protests by China against what it said was an attack and search of its commercial counsellor's office in Djakarta by Indonesian troops. The Chinese Foreign Ministry protested against threats and insults made against Chinese diplomatic personnel during the alleged search. A Chinese note, handed today to the Indonesian Ambassador in Peking, demanded an apology from the Indonesian Government, punishment of the culprits and a guarantee that it would not happen again. According to the laws of Indonesia, President Sukarno is the only person empowered to ban a political party. There was no indication in the Associated Press and AAP-Reuter reports that the ban had been imposed by President Sukarno. Resisting pressure Earlier reports from Indonesia said that President Sukarno was resisting army pressure for the formal dissolution of the PKI and apparently was still not satisfied with the Army's charge that Communists were directly involved in the coup attempt. A purge of Communists from the Government offices and institutions is continuing, particularly in the fields of education, economics, legislative, agriculture, communications and the press, the AP said. China protests. — Page 5. [fragment from adjacent column:] President Sukarno, making his first public appearance outside his palace since the October 1 coup attempt, grins and salutes as he arrives at the Hotel Indonesia for the anti-foreign bases conference on Sunday. —