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Dudung wants to wage war on terror, New Order-style
Newly inaugurated Army chief of staff Gen. Dudung Abdurachman has said he wanted to reinstate New Order-style public security monitoring by the military, sparking fears that it might limit civic space.
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Then-Jakarta Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Dudung Abdurrachman (left) inspects a sword Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Fadil Imran looks on while holding two revolvers at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Dec. 17, 2020. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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ewly inaugurated Army chief of staff Gen. Dudung Abdurachman has said he wanted to reinstate New Order-style public security monitoring by the military, sparking fears that it might limit civic space.
Speaking to Kompas daily during his visit to Papua on Nov. 19, Dudung instructed the Army to be sensitive to the development of extreme left and right, especially any groups that are trying to carry out radical acts.
“If there is any information, I will carry out measures taken during pak Harto’s time. Babinsa [non-commissioned officers] even have to know if a needle falls,” he said as quoted by Kompas daily, referring to former strongman Soeharto.
He added that the move was part of the Army's seven daily orders and instructed Babinsa at the village level to immediately coordinate with the police and take decisive action if they encounter such information.
"So, if there are organizations that try to disrupt the unity and integrity [of the nation], don't discuss too much, don't think too much, but do it," said the former Army Strategic Reserve commander (Pangkostrad).
His instructions have garnered criticism from civil groups, with many arguing that scaling up the Army's involvement in civilian affairs by encouraging Babinsa to collect intelligence and take action at a village level against extremism would betray the spirit of the 1998 political Reform era.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) urged Dudung to scrap his plan to deploy armed forces to confront radicalism, as this was the task of the police and National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
