Reds, Pressing Reforms, Win Wide Peasant Support in Java (New York Times, 27 Maret 1965)

=== [PDF page 1] === Reds, Pressing Reforms, Win Wide Peasant Support i in Java By NEIL SHEEHANSpecial to The New York Times PP New York Times (1923-); Mar 27, 1965; ProQuest Reds, Pressing Reforms, Win Wide By NEIL SHEEHAN Special to The New ‘Work ‘Times KLATEN,. Indonesia, — The peasants of Klaten are a gentle and friendly people. To an outsider they seem indifferent to ahything beyond. tilling their fields and raising their families. The Hindu kings, Mosiem sultans, Dutch regents and Indonesian bureaucrats who have’ ruled ‘this densely populated. district in central Java have tooked upon the peasants as, human tools to grow rice, to-' bacco and sugar. cane. ’ Now, however, the Communists have gained prominence in Klaten. Perhaps for the first time, someone is asking the peasants what they want. and is telling them they can.eventually have it if they support the Communist cause... - The-Communists do not rule Klaten’s fairytale landscape of green paddy fields and stands of banyan trees but they intend to do so some day. The district Communist party chairman, Mr. Sutarman, a grayhaired man in his fifties with a long, thin face, talks about his work with confidence. 60,000 Party Members “We have grown from 10,000 registered party members three years ago to 50,000 now,” he said, “and we are getting bigger all the time.” The Communists and affiliated organizations, such as the farmers’, women’s and youth associations, now have over half the population of the district of 900,090 inhabitants enrolled. Mr. Sutarman attributes the party’s growth mainly to agitation for the enforcement of the land-reform and crop-sharing laws. About 50 per cent of the farmers are landless and most of the others own less than half a hectare. A hectare is about two and a half acres. The Communist officials here impress a visitor as competent, hard-working people who know where they are going and how to get there. Mrs. Sukarni, the chairman of the district women’s organization and a member of the district committee, combines party work with the task of rearing five children. She is a plump ‘woman in her forties, energetic and frank. =... ‘One of’ the reasons.for' the growtir of Gerwani, the ‘Women’s organization, according to Mrs, Sukarni, has been its efforts to.raise the status of peasant women. “We are trying to remove the restrictions on farm women, improve their rights and get them more legal protection,” she said. Another project by the Communists in Klaten is an agricultural research station that is developing improved strains of cotton... ' ‘The head of the station, Mr. Yagus, is a well-known Indonesian agricultural expert. He started the project late in the The station was expanded ininto a full-time operation in 1959 after Mr. Yagus’s work attracted the attention of President Sukarno and-the Indomesian leader ordered the local lgovernment to provide funds for the project.,: Mr. Yagus and most of his 16 soybeans. and assistants. are members of the Communist peasant association, the Barisan. Tani Indonesian (Indonesian. Farmers Association). The improved plants they develop are distributed to farmerg through this organization. “When the farmers see they can get better crops using our plants. it helps increase our membership,”. Mr, Yagus said. The Communist peasant. association has enrolled about 214,- 000 people.,. | Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Peasant Support in Javf Mr. Yagus, a short, ea: ‘ing man of 64 with white and a quick smile, has hadpfittle formal education. He recei¥ed most of his training as an 3gricultural technician under Ahe former Dutch colonial ad:ginistration and through - his experiments. | "{ am not very strongwWon theories and ‘sometimes I criticized by other scientistsyfor neglecting them,” he sald. ‘But fall I am really interested iB is ‘practical results.” 5