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Bali governor welcomes gangs in state defense program
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Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika addresses a press conference during the 38th Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, Bali, on June 14. (kompas.com/Sri Lestari)
B
ali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has warmly welcomed a plan by the 9th regional military command (Kodam IX Udayana) to train gang members and mass organizations as part of a state defense program.
"We have to be cognizant of defending the state [... given] its importance for us, as reminded in the Pancasila [state ideology] as well as the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [state motto]," Pastika said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday.
The state defense program was important because its participants would learn about the nation's history, strengthen nationalism, and especially foster a sense of comradeship among citizens, he said.
The program’s curriculum should also include a firearms introduction course, Pastika further added without providing much detail.
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has asserted that the state-defense training curriculum did not include firearms, adding that weapons training could only occur if the nation was currently under threat and the country’s defense forces needed assistance in protecting the country.
Despite the controversy surrounding the plan, Kodam IX Udayana spokesman Col. Inf. J. Hotman Hutahaean has confirmed that Laskar Bali and Baladika, two rival local mass organizations that had in the past repeatedly clashed with one another, were joining the program. (afr)
