1996 marked by political tension and violence<\/p>\n
By Santi W.E. Soekanto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite an earlier warning by President Soeharto
\nthat every disorder, no matter what the cause, represents a
\nsetback for the country, this year has been marked by social,
\nreligious and political tension that erupted into riots and
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, for instance, hundreds of students of two
\nIslamic boarding schools in the West Java town of Sukabumi
\nattacked a resident's house which had functioned as a place of
\nworship of another faith. Hurling stones, the students managed to
\nwreck several cars and inflict damages on the house before they
\nwere shooed away by security officers.<\/p>\n
The students originally intended to peacefully ask the house
\nowner to stop inviting people from other places, including
\nJakarta, to worship there. Somewhere along the line, however,
\nunidentified people provoked the students who then became vicious
\nand started attacking the house.<\/p>\n
A disturbing close to a year that began with violence.<\/p>\n
Military<\/p>\n
In March, for instance, dozens of people in Kwala Berkala
\nsubdistrict, Medan, North Sumatra, were injured and scores of
\nhouses and cars damaged in attacks conducted by members of
\nCavalry 6 assault battalion. The attacks were believed to have
\nbeen motivated by the soldiers' wish for revenge for the death of
\na colleague, who was stabbed by a hoodlum.<\/p>\n
Also in March, hundreds of youths ran amok in the Irian Jaya
\ncapital of Jayapura after they were prevented from paying their
\nlast respects to the late separatist leader Thomas Wapay
\nWainggai, who died in a Jakarta prison.<\/p>\n
During the incident, four people were killed, a marketplace
\nhousing mostly non-Irianese traders was torched, dozens of
\nbuildings were damaged and many cars set ablaze.<\/p>\n
Still in March, the copper town of Timika in Irian Jaya was
\nrocked by massive rioting. Fifteen people were injured when
\nthousands of people attacked the office of Freeport mining
\ncompany and houses belonging to its employees.<\/p>\n
The military then blamed the riot on malicious rumors, but
\nexperts pointed out that perhaps social problems related to the
\noperation of and the people's deep mistrust of the giant mining
\ncompany there should be looked into as a plausible explanation.<\/p>\n
The three incidents were a sad reminder of President
\nSoeharto's message, delivered when the nation was bidding
\nfarewell to 1995.<\/p>\n
Greeting the coming of 1996, Soeharto described how last year
\nwas marked with a number of upheavals in parts of Indonesia which
\nforced the country to allocate energy and resources to deal with
\nthem and prevent them from reoccurring.<\/p>\n
These upheavals had their origins in the diversity in cultures
\nand backgrounds of Indonesian society, he said. \"Whatever the
\nreasons -- economic, social, cultural, religious or political --
\nevery upheaval was clearly a setback for the nation as a whole,\"
\nSoeharto said then.<\/p>\n
\"It is not easy to build, preserve and develop a national
\nstate in a country where the people are very diverse. Experience
\nhas shown that in a diverse society, there are seeds of unrest,
\nbig and small, which if not properly handled, could lead to
\nupheaval.<\/p>\n
\"That is why each day, each month and each year that we pass
\nwithout an upheaval is a national achievement which we must
\nmaintain,\" he said.<\/p>\n
This message seemed to have gone unheeded when in April this
\nyear, a crowd of over 2,000 ran amok in the West Kalimantan
\nsubdistrict of Ngabang following rumors of an abduction of a
\nDayak man by a member of the Armed Forces. One person died while
\nseveral others were injured when troops opened fire in self-
\ndefense.<\/p>\n
Also in April, major rioting took place in the South Sulawesi
\ncapital of Ujungpandang. Mobs of students, at one time as many as
\n10,000, launched a wave of street protests over the city
\nadministration's plan to increase the fare of pete-pete public
\ntransportation from Rp 300 (13 U.S. cents) to Rp 500.<\/p>\n
The reason for the demonstration might sound petty, but the
\nconsequences were by no means trivial. The students went on a
\nviolent rampage, vandalizing buses and public property, and
\nhurling insults and stones at riot police.<\/p>\n
The students soon locked into clashes with security officers
\nwho entered college campuses in armored vehicles and armed with
\nrattan sticks. Three students died with severe bruises on their
\nbodies, and 12 officers went on to be court-martialled after the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights announced it had found
\nevidence of violations of rights.<\/p>\n
Ethnic<\/p>\n
In June, a riot took place in Baucau regency, 120 kms east of
\nthe predominately Roman Catholic East Timor capital of Dili.
\nDozens of rioters, mostly youths, went on a rampage and attacked
\nnonnatives. They also evicted traders, mostly Moslems from other
\nprovinces, from the town's market and ransacked the place.<\/p>\n
This violence occurred despite an earlier call by Dili Bishop
\nCarlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, the highest leader of the Roman
\nCatholic community in East Timor, for greater dialog between the
\nvarious religious communities in the province.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony had already been rocked by a
\nseries of disturbances last year, with demonstrators not only
\nprotesting against Indonesian rule, but also protesting against
\nthe presence of non-Catholic migrants who increasingly dominate
\nthe province's trade.<\/p>\n
Also in June, an estimated 8,000 supporters of then chief of
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nrallied in Jakarta streets protesting the party's government-
\nbacked splinter group. They clashed with security officers in
\nfront of Gambir railway station.<\/p>\n
Rioting began after a number of unidentified people in black
\nhurled stones at the troops. Riot police, followed by soldiers,
\nthen charged with batons and rattan sticks into the crowd,
\nbeating some protesters and breaking car windows. The protesters
\nattempted to retaliate in kind by hurling stones.<\/p>\n
Accounts of casualties varied. Jakarta military spokesman Lt.
\nCol. Didi Supandi said 55 security personnel were injured, 25 of
\nthem seriously. The Megawati camp stated one PDI supporter died
\nand 70 other supporters were injured, five of them critically.<\/p>\n
Similar demonstrations in support of Megawati took place in
\nother cities such as Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, and Surabaya
\nin East Java, paving the way for further, even bigger violence.<\/p>\n
Social<\/p>\n
Violence peaked in July.<\/p>\n
It was this month that the Irian Jaya town of Nabire was
\njolted by two days of rioting involving 3,000 disgruntled job
\nseekers. Three soldiers were injured, while around 100 office
\nbuildings, stores, homes and vehicles were destroyed by mobs. In
\naddition, between 41 and 60 criminals escaped from prisons during
\nthe riot, though 37 were recaptured or turned themselves in.<\/p>\n
Later on in the month, around 10,000 disgruntled workers from
\n10 companies in the Tandes industrial estate of Surabaya, East
\nJava, took to the street demanding an increase in their daily
\nwage from Rp 5,200 to Rp 7,000. Clashes became unavoidable as
\ntroops forcibly dispersed them; dozens were injured.<\/p>\n
The authorities blamed the demonstration on activists of the
\noutlawed Democratic People's Party (PRD), a small and allegedly
\nleftist organization of students. In a statement, its leader,
\nBudiman Sudjatmiko, demanded an overhaul of the political system,
\nan end to military intervention in labor disputes, and the
\ndismantling of the military's role in politics.<\/p>\n
Dita Indah Sari, a female student, and two colleagues who
\nhelped organize the demonstration are currently facing trial for
\nsubversion.<\/p>\n
Politics<\/p>\n
The series of violence, however, peaked on July 27 when
\nthousands of youths and activists clashed with hundreds of
\nsecurity troops armed with rattan sticks, iron bars and tear gas
\non the streets of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Later dubbed \"Gray Saturday,\" that day saw some of the worst
\nviolence and rioting the capital ever experienced in the past two
\ndecades.<\/p>\n
The rioting erupted following the forced takeover of the
\ndisputed headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by
\ntroops and supporters of government-backed chairperson Soerjadi.<\/p>\n
Students and youth activists as well as onlookers later went
\non a rampage, burning buses, buildings and cars. At least five
\npeople died, 149 others were injured, and 23 people are still
\nmissing. One of the victims, Sariwan, was found to have died of
\ngunshot, despite the military's insistence that no shots had been
\nfired that day.<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights conducted its own
\ninvestigation into the incident and concluded there had been
\ngrave violations of human rights that day. The body pointed out
\nthere had been violations of the freedom of association and
\nassembly, freedom from fear, freedom from cruel and inhumane
\ntreatment, the right to life, the right to personal security, and
\nthe right to property.<\/p>\n
The riot was followed by tense weeks in various parts of the
\ncountry, especially in major cities such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta,
\nBandung and Surabaya, as authorities cracked down on student
\nactivists blamed for the unrest.<\/p>\n
The government made clear that the Democratic People's Party
\nwas behind the riot and brought its activists to court later in
\nthe year. The government's stance later shifted and chairman
\nBudiman Sudjatmiko and his friends were no longer accused of
\nmasterminding the unrest, but of subversive activities of
\nundermining the government.<\/p>\n
Religious<\/p>\n
Just as the nation thought the worst had passed and people
\ncould breathe easy, further violence occurred. This time it was
\nin the form of religious tension. Some incidents never made
\nheadlines, mostly because of a government gag.<\/p>\n
One of the most ugly instances of violence, however, occurred
\nin October, when thousands of people in the small town of
\nSitubondo, East Java, attacked local churches in a frenzy over a
\nperceived religious slight. Five people were killed in the
\nincident, while dozens of houses of worship, an orphanage and
\ngovernment offices were either burned down or damaged.<\/p>\n
The incident was sparked following a local court session
\ntrying a local Moslem for blasphemy and slander against the late
\nK.H. As'ad Syamsul Arifin, a respected ulema in East Java. Upset
\nover what they believed was a too-light sentence demanded by the
\nprosecutors, the mob tried to attack the defendant, Saleh.<\/p>\n
The crowd turned wild after unidentified people shouted that
\nSaleh was hidden in a church near the courthouse. They then went
\non a rampage that lasted for around five hours before troops
\nmoved in and contained the unrest.<\/p>\n
Insight<\/p>\n
Following the incidents of violence, government officials,
\nexperts, community leaders and activists of various fields
\nscrambled to offer insight as to why the incidents occurred in
\nthe first place. Certain patterns could easily be detected in
\ntheir explanations.<\/p>\n
Military and other government officials invariably pointed the
\nfinger at individuals and organizations they believed instigated
\nthe violence. The riots in Ujungpandang were blamed on student
\nactivists who reportedly stepped out of line by taunting security
\nofficers with insults and stones. The rioting in Jakarta was
\nblamed on the Democratic People's Party and others from leftist
\norganizations striving to undermine the government.<\/p>\n
Experts offered different explanations, but usually pinned the
\nblame on government policies on various matters, including its
\nmeddling in PDI internal affairs.<\/p>\n
Other insights were also offered, including the deepening
\nsocial disparity and other problems such as corrupt officials and
\nleaders. Political and social observers have said that even
\nwithout the PDI conflict, violence was bound to happen if only
\nfor people to let off steam.<\/p>\n
A political observer offered yet another explanation: that
\nmost of the violence, in particular the attacks on churches in
\nSitubondo, were either contrived or effects of conflicts which
\noccurred in the political elite. It this perspective is correct,
\nthen an Indonesian proverb seems to hold true: when two powerful
\n\"elephants\" fight, it is usually the small, innocent \"mousedeer\"
\nthat gets caught in the middle and is squeezed to death.<\/p>\n
There is, however, a detail that from time to time cropped up
\nduring all the violence; namely, the presence of \"unidentified
\npeople\" who, by words or actions, managed to galvanize the mobs
\ninto destructiveness. Social psychologists say that people lose
\ntheir individuality when they become part of a crowd. These
\n\"unidentified people\" knew how to manipulate this to obtain
\nwhatever their interests were.<\/p>",
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