Tuesday, Indonesia celebrated national book Day. But the event was disturbed by reports of raids and confiscations of books by the leaders of the country in order to stop the leftist ideologies from spreading further.
Not many people in Indonesia are aware of his National Book Day, which was founded in 2002 and on May 17 of each year - a date which coincides with the establishment the national library of the country in 1980.
national book Day this year was disturbed by reports that Indonesian officials and the national armed forces, better known as Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) have been confiscating books promoting ideologies like Marxism, Leninism and communism in an attempt to prevent the rebirth of communism in Indonesia.
Gramedia, one of the largest stores in the nation pounds suspended the distribution of these books left.
"Books are still available, but they are not allowed to show. This applies in all Gramedia [outlets]," one of the staff of the bookstore chain admitted as reported by CNN Indonesia.
The confiscation of the book has polarized the country into those who support the confiscation and those who fear the loss of freedom of thought and expression.
Among those who agree with the ban was responsible for the national library Dedi Junaedi:
"I agree these weeks-books be left threatening In.. new order, these books were banned. to be able to read it, there must be official approval, "he said.
Instead, a group of journalists, publishers, media communities and publishers known Masyarkat Literasi Yogyakarta (MLY) expressed concern for this confiscation. One member of the group, writer Anton Kurnia believes the movement of TNI is against the law
"What the police and officials are doing is against the law because they are not entitled to confiscate [the books], "he said.
In Yogyakarta, MLY reported that two publishers and a book store were searched in a "terror" attack on May 10 and 11. The group felt that this literature confiscation should not happen in a democracy and is unconstitutional.