Pancasila Youth

Pancasila Youth
Pemuda Pancasila
LeaderYapto Soerjosoemarno
Dates of operation1959–present
Active regionsIndonesia
IdeologyPancasila
Anti-communism[1][2][3][4]
Ultranationalism[5][6]
Political positionFar-right[7][8]
Major actionsBeheadings, Tortures, Murder, Rapes, Brawlings, Bullyings, Hate speech, Hate crime, Extortion
Notable attacksIndonesian killings of 1965–66
Maluku sectarian conflict
2019 Papua protests
Size3,000,000 (2012)
Websitepemuda-pancasila.or.id
Pancasila Youth members (in black and orange camouflage service attire) in a Youth Pledge Day ceremony in Cirebon Regency, West Java

The Pancasila Youth (Indonesian: Pemuda Pancasila, PP) is an Indonesian far-right paramilitary organization established in 1959. The organisation's name refers to Pancasila, the official "five principles" of the Indonesian state. Pemuda Pancasila was involved in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66, and supported the New Order regime of President Suharto. Its members extort money, control car parking and offer security services.[9]

History

The organization officially dates its foundation as 28 October 1959 as the youth wing of the League of Supporters of Indonesian Independence party, which had been established by General Abdul Haris Nasution to promote the political interests of the Indonesian Army. This was shortly after President Sukarno's decree restoring the 1945 Constitution, which the military supported, and which the Pemuda Pancasila was to "back up".[10][11][12][13] There is some ambiguity as to the actual founding date, and it is possible that 28 October was decided on retrospectively as it is the anniversary of the 1928 Youth Pledge. Spego Goni became the organization's chairman in 1961[14] In 1962, he proposed sending Pemuda Pancasila members to fight for "liberation" of Netherlands New Guinea in support of Indonesia's military campaign, Operation Trikora, supplying a fictitious list of names as evidence of the organization's readiness. Meanwhile, Pemuda Pancasila began expanding outside Jakarta. In Medan, Effendi Nasution, leader of a youth organization that made money from extortion and bodyguard services, became the local Pemuda Pancasila leader. It was in Medan that the organization took the dominant role in the killings of suspected communists after the 1965 coup attempt, as described in the 2012 documentary The Act of Killing. In Jakarta, the organization focused more on stealing property belonging to communist organizations and taking over and buildings, some of which were subsequently sold.[15]

Currently Yapto Soerjosoemarno is the leader of this organization,[16] and was one of the semi-official political gangster (preman) groups that supported the New Order military dictatorship of Suharto.

In The Act of Killing, it is stated that the organization currently has three million members. National membership estimates from the late 1990s ranged from four to ten million people.[16]

In May 2020, the Bekasi chapter of the Pancasila Youth mailed out letters to prominent local businesspeople asking for Tunjangan Hari Raya in exchange for "peace and security". The Bekasi Police demanded the chapter retract the letter.[17]

Notable members

Zulkifli Hasan and Yapto Soerjosoemarno in a Pancasila Youth meeting

See also

References

  1. ^ Inside Indonesia, ed. (1999). Inside Indonesia, Issues 57-68. Inside Indonesia, Indonesia Resources and Information Programme. p. 19.
  2. ^ Elizabeth Rechniewski, ed. (2018). Seeking Meaning, Seeking Justice in a Post-Cold War World. Brill. p. 138. ISBN 9789004361676.
  3. ^ Lyn Parker, Pam Nilan, ed. (2013). Adolescents in Contemporary Indonesia. Taylor & Francis. p. Content. ISBN 9781134072385.
  4. ^ Benedict R. O'G. Anderson, ed. (2018). Violence and the State in Suharto's Indonesia. Cornell University Press. p. 133. ISBN 9781501719042.
  5. ^ Ulla Fionna, ed. (2015). Watching the Indonesian Elections 2014. ISEAS Publishing. p. 106. ISBN 9789814620833. Prabowo has accepted support from and declared his willingness to work with such organizations as the (notorious) radical Islamic group Front Pembela Islam (Defenders of Islam Front) and the ultra-nationalist Pemuda Pancasila
  6. ^ "Indonesia film on mass killings stirs debate". AlJazeera. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  7. ^ Jason Crouthamel, Julia Barbara Köhne & Peter Leese 2021, pp. 317.
  8. ^ Geoffrey B. Robinson, ed. (2019). The Killing Season. Princeton University Press. p. 301. ISBN 9780691196497.
  9. ^ Hidayatulah, Syarif (18 August 2022). "Aksi Oknum PP Lakukan Pungli Ternyata Lokasinya di Jalur Alternatif ke Puncak". pakuanraya.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  10. ^ Ryter 1998, p. 52.
  11. ^ Wedhatama, Berto (28 August 2009). "Jakarta prominent mass organization and ethnic groups". Jakarta Post. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  12. ^ Hefner, Robert W. (2005). "Social Legacies and Possible Futures". Indonesia: The Great Transition. p. 120. ISBN 9780742540118.
  13. ^ Anderson, Benedict Richard O'Gorman (2001). Violence and the state in Suharto's Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-5017-1904-2. OCLC 1037946788.
  14. ^ Ryter 1998, p. 54.
  15. ^ Ryter 1998, pp. 54–56.
  16. ^ a b Youth Gangs and Otherwise in Indonesia Archived 2012-06-17 at the Wayback Machine; RYTER, Loren, University of Michigan; presented at the Global Gangs Workshop, 14–15 May 2009
  17. ^ Mawardi, Isal. "Pemuda Pancasila Buka Suara soal Permintaan THR ke Pengusaha Bekasi". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  18. ^ a b c d e Indriani, Syifa (26 November 2021). Sani, Ahmad Faiz Ibnu (ed.). "Deretan Pengurus Pemuda Pancasila yang Jadi Pejabat Negara". tempo.co.
  19. ^ Rasyid, Muhammad Anil (26 October 2019). "Anwar Congo Penjagal PKI dari Medan Meninggal Dunia". Tribun Medan.
  20. ^ "Anti-PKI death squad leader Anwar Congo dies at 78". The Jakarta Post. 27 October 2019.

Further reading

  • Ryter, Loren (October 1998). "Pemuda Pancasila: The Last Loyalist Free Men of Suharto's Order" (PDF). Indonesia. 66 (66): 45–73. doi:10.2307/3351447. hdl:1813/54155. JSTOR 3351447. S2CID 155427381. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
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