Ahmad Rafiq, Surakarta – A People’s Ceremonial Stage to remember the May riots in the Central Java city of Solo was unable to show the documentary film “The May 1998 Tragedy” after police requested that the organising committee cancel the event planned for the evening of May 26.

Fabian Januarius Kuwado, Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reaffirmed that the state ideology of Pancasila is the one and only ideology that is acceptable in Indonesia.

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – Actions by a variety of groups celebrating Labour Day or May Day on May 1 in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung were centred on Jl. Diponegoro in front of the Sate Building, the West Java governor’s office.

Rezki Alvionitasari, Jakarta – Thousands of workers commemorated International Labour Day today, Monday May 1, by gathering in front of the National Monument (Monas) gates on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jl. M. H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta and at the nearby Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle.

Ahmad Fauzan, Bandung (Kabar Kampus) – Opening a free library without prior authorisation in the vicinity of the Telkom University (Tel-U) parking area in Bandung, West Java, has it appears become a serious problem for the Tel-U rectorate. Never mind that leftist books deemed to endanger the Tel-U campus were discovered at the book stall.

Ambon – Vice President M Jusuf Kalla has warned that inequality levels in Indonesia have become quite dangerous because of religious differences between the rich and the poor.

Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) President Said Iqbal says that hundreds of thousands if not a million workers affiliated with the KSPI are ready to take part in the Action to Defend Islam by holding a national strike.

Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Students and activists at the Papuan student dormitory in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta have been besieged by hundreds of security personnel from the Yogyakarta regional police and the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) paramilitary police.

Selfy Momongan (Magang), Jakarta – The recent raids against Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) related paraphernalia and books have attracted the special attention of the National Library (Perpusnas) with acting Perpusnas head Dedi Junaedi supporting the censorship of books containing leftist ideas.

Jakarta – The owners of books related to communism have been asked to hand them over the government. According to Defense Minister retired General Ryamizard Ryacudu, prohibitions on such material also covers documents circulating on the internet.

Jakarta – Retired Indonesian military (TNI) officers are planning to organise an anti-PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) symposium on July 2. The anti-PKI symposium is aimed at countering the government sponsored symposium on the 1965 tragedy in April.

Pito Agustin Rudiana, Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Buwono X has defended the Yogyakarta metropolitan police for shutting down an event commemorating International Press Freedom Day held by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Yogyakarta on the evening of Tuesday May 3.

Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of informal sector workers from the Yogyakarta People’s and Worker Alliance (ARPY) called for the protection to ensure the rights of home-based and domestic workers and the fulfillment social guarantees by the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS).

Tia Agnes, Jakarta – A monolog performance titled Tan Malaka: I am a Red Haired Deer should have been held by a theater group from the West Java provincial capital of Bandung at the Main Theater at the Bandung Francaise D’Indonesie Institute (IFI) on Jl. Purnawarman Bandung on March 23-24.

Shinta Maharani, Jakarta – Hundreds of pro-democracy activists were threatened and intimidated by intolerant groups when they held a peaceful protest action at a square alongside the McDonalds fast-food restaurant near the Tugu Monument in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Tuesday February 23.

Putra Prima Perdana, Bandung – The coordinator of the Bandung Kulon chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Tubagus Abbas Murodi, has admitted that the FPI conducted a sweep of boarding houses in the Bandung Kulon area.

Elvan Dany Sutrisno, Jakarta – People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Zulkifli Hasan says he agrees with Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir who said recently that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups should be banned from campuses because they are not in accordance with Indonesian cultural val

Parliza Hendrawan, Palembang – The bad old practices of the New Order dictatorship of former President Suharto are still being applied in some government agencies in Indonesia.

Abdul Azis, Jakarta – The editor of the magazine Lentera (Beacon), Bima Satria Putra, says that the police have asked them to recall the October 10 issue of the magazine from circulation.

Shinta Maharan, Yogyakarta – A book discussion on the works by Professor Saskia Eleonora Wieringa from the University of Amsterdam has attracted sympathy from many circles at the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (UIN) Student Centre building on the evening of October 9.