Despite the fact that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was crushed in 1965 (as part of a bloody campaign that historians estimate killed over 500,000 people) due to its supposed role in a government takeover coup, Indonesian authorities still take the threat of communism seriously (some might say, way too seriously) 52 years later, banning not only the promotion of communist ideology but even its symbols – most visibly the hammer and sickle.
The most recent person to fall victim to the Indonesian government’s fashion law forbidding the use of communist symbols on clothing was a citizen of Malaysia, Mohamad Tarmizi Mohamad Nordin.
Tarmizi was in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, last week for work. A couple of local residents saw him wearing a black t-shirt with a yellow hammer and sickle symbol on the front and, being vigilant citizens, immediately reported him to the police.
Police, apparently having nothing else more pressing to deal with, immediately went to the Golden Tulip Hotel where Tarmizi was reported to be staying. After finding out the Malaysian was indeed wearing the illegal symbol, they took him to the local police station where he was interrogated.
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Tarmizi said the shirt was a souvenir and claimed to have no idea about Indonesia’s anti-Communist fashion laws.
“The suspect claimed that he bought the shirt during a vacation in Russia and that he did not know it was banned in Indonesia,” Mataram Police Chief Superintendent Muhammad said as quoted by Detik on Friday.
Police also swept Tarmizi’s room, but did not find any other communist paraphernalia. Finally the police allowed the Malaysian to go back to his hotel, however, they did confiscate his t-shirt (it is not clear if they gave him a Turn Back Crime shirt as a replacement).
Last year, Indonesian police detained four Malaysians for selling copies of the “Communist Manifesto” at a Jakarta book fair. In the past, authorities have accused people wearing coffee lover shirts and even children’s toys of spreading Communism through the hammer and sickle symbol.
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