Mass arrests by Indonesian army: Communist offices burned (The Irish Times, 11 Oktober 1965)

=== [PDF page 1] === MASS ARRESTS BY INDONESIAN ARMY: COMMUNIST OFFICES BURNED The Irish Times (1921-); Oct 11, 1965; ProQuest “Radio ‘News from Abroad MASS ARRESTS BY INDONESIAN ARMY Communist offices burned ASS arrests, of ‘Communists in Jakarta over the week-end followed the reported discovery of arms and a radio transmitter in the Indonesian Communist Party (P.K.L) headquarters, which were set on fire on Friday. Army and. police ‘have given no figures, but unofficial estimates put the otal number detained in the past week at 1,500, apart from 2,000 rebels captured in the fighting in other parts: of Java. President Sukarno returned to Jakarta. on Saturday from Bogor Palace, 40 miles 10 the south. where he had been since the. abortive Tising ten days ago. Anti-Communist feeling is mounting among Jakarta’s: Moslem: population. Moslem and Right-wing organisations at a rally on Friday passed a resolution warning the President that. any compromise on this issue would increase popular hatred and resentment. But Sukarno ix believed to. be stil] irying to save his concept of Nasakom—a blending in power of Nationalist, religious and Communist forces An Army spokesman.on Jakarta yesterday appealed — for civilians ta ‘co-operaie ‘with the troops against the Cammunists. OFFICES ATTACKED _A crowd: of. Maslems ransacked a suburban office of the Communist womens organisation, Gerwani, in Jakarta. on Saturday. They had destroved files and burned some of -the office furniture there on Friday, Hundreds af Maslems screaming for the death of Mr. D..N. Aidit, the P.K.L. chairman, burst into the party headquarters and burn: down part of the building. owned by Mr. Aidit, but now nol occupied for several months, was | also ransacked. The Army, with Islamic — politica) —_ parties, organised processions along Jakarta's streets, demanding that Aidit | be hanged. Army units are still armed Communists. and fighting was believed to be continuing in | Central and East Java. One report said that 86 dissident soldiers had been captured while trying to flee | to the. hills in Centra] Java. They included. men {from _ President Sukarno’s presidential guard. Communisis arrested in Jakarta include members of the Gerwani Women’s movement, some members of which are alleged tg have tortured ihe six Army generals whose mutilated bodies were found in a dry well -Jast Monday. HOTEL RAIDED . Yesterday in Jakaria a group of Army soldiers raided the Hotel Indonesia and took away four Indonesian residents. A fifth fell to his death from the hotel's third floor parapet while trying to escape arrest.; “Who are these people and why are they being arrested?” asked a non-Indonesian who witnessed the scene, “They are Communists,” answered an Indonesian standing in the hotel lobby. “We will continue to demonstrate until President Sukarno bans the P.K.L,” an Army officer said. The P.KTI. is the oldest Communist Party in Asia and the biggest outside the Sovict Union and China. It celebrated its 45th anniversary this vear. It claims a membership of three million, It ‘has penetrated the Government's machinery to a great extent, and contrals “Sobsi, the largest. trade organisation in the country, and the B.T.1., the largest peasant Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. have | hunting | A house