Bali traditional institutions under question<\/p>\n
By I Wayan Juniarta<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The beautiful and pristine Beratan Lake
\nin Bedugul, one of Bali's famous tourist resorts, located 60
\nkilometers north of Denpasar, recently witnessed a tragedy that
\ncost the life of 55-year-old Djohny Leopato.<\/p>\n
While Djohny was not Balinese, he and his family owned the
\nlegal rights to a 1.9-hectare plot of land in the resort area
\nopposite the lake, a strategic and pleasant place for
\nvacationers.<\/p>\n
The tragedy, which took place on Dec. 15 sometime before dawn,
\nshook the once peace-loving Balinese community. On this date,
\nDjohny, on his way to his property, was attacked and killed by
\nhundreds of local villagers in Bedugul.<\/p>\n
Dozens of police officers, who tried their best to save the
\nlife of Djohny, could only stand by helplessly and witness the
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
This brutal killing began as a common land dispute when Djohny
\nfiled a lawsuit against the Bali administration.<\/p>\n
He claimed his family owned the property, stating that some 30
\nyears ago the Bali administration rented the land from his
\nfamily, failing to pay them any compensation.<\/p>\n
The disputed land is now occupied by Lila Graha, a 16 villa
\nresort. Apparently, the resort is a gold mine for the local
\nadministration, and it refused to return the land to Djohny and
\nhis family.<\/p>\n
The case wound its way through the courts before landing in
\nthe Supreme Court, which on May 3, 2000, issued a verdict in
\nfavor of Djohny.<\/p>\n
The verdict angered Bedugul villagers, who viewed Djohny,
\nbeing both a non-Balinese and a non-Hindu, as \"a greedy
\noutsider\".<\/p>\n
Silently supported by the local administration and
\nlegislators, the traditional institutions of the local community,
\nsuch as Banjar Adat and Desa Adat, began mobilizing their members
\nto oppose the verdict.<\/p>\n
When in the middle of November 2000 the officers of the court
\nattempted to enforce the Supreme Court's decision, the local
\ncommunity was waiting for them.<\/p>\n
Thousands of locals from Banjar Adat and Desa Adat, mostly
\nattired in traditional Balinese dress, surrounded the disputed
\narea and prevented the officers from enforcing the decision.<\/p>\n
A second attempt to enforce the Supreme Court's decision
\noccurred on Dec. 15, the day Djohny was killed.<\/p>\n
The night before the murder, a large number of locals set up
\ntwo roadblocks in the area and began stopping and checking
\npassing vehicles.<\/p>\n
One of the vehicles that was stopped was Djohny's car. The
\nvillagers chased and then blocked the car. The victim was pulled
\nout of the vehicle and beaten to death, and the car set ablaze.<\/p>\n
Several hours later, the regent of Tabanan, Adi Wiryatama,
\nannounced that the enforcement of the Supreme Court's decision
\nwas suspended until further notice, and that he would always
\nsupport his people's struggle and aspirations.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Bimantoro ordered the Bali Police
\nto arrest those involved in the murder of Djohny. Up to this
\npoint in time, however, it seems the Bali Police have taken no
\naction and have remained silent on the matter.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the people of Bedugul attempted to justify
\nthe murder by claiming it was \"the work of the gods\".<\/p>\n
The gods were angry with Djohny, that is why on that fatal day
\nmany villagers were in a state of trance known as Kerauhan when
\nthey murdered Djohny, they claimed.<\/p>\n
Djohny's death caused questions among Balinese intellectuals,
\nwho still shiver when they recall the murder.<\/p>\n
They posed two major questions. First, the scholars questioned
\nwhether the empowerment of Bali's traditional institutions had
\ngone too far and down the wrong path. The second question raised
\nwas whether Bali's formal legal institutions were capable of
\nworking effectively to deal with cases of \"mob justice\".<\/p>\n
\"Empowering traditional institutions, giving them more power,
\npolitically and economically, without establishing a way to
\nsupervise, contain and to control them is a very dangerous
\nendeavor,\" said social observer.<\/p>\n
During the New Order regime, the power of many Bali's
\ntraditional institutions, such as Banjar and Desa Adat, were
\nsystematically lessened and transformed into tools of the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The New Order used local institutions as an effective means to
\ncarry out or disseminate development programs, and, later, to
\nmobilize villagers to support the then ruling Golkar party.<\/p>\n
By becoming tools of the New Order, the traditional
\ninstitutions practically lost most of their freedom and ability
\nto solve problems democratically.<\/p>\n
When the regime was toppled, many of Bali's intellectuals
\nbegan to question the way the government treated these
\ntraditional institutions.<\/p>\n
They demanded Banjar and Desa Adat be given more space and
\nauthority to rule themselves. Because the current administration
\nof Bali envisions stronger traditional institutions playing a
\nlarger role in a solving many of the problems on the tourist
\nisland, it warmly responded to the intellectuals' demand.<\/p>\n
It seems that both the scholars and the government forgot that
\nthese traditional institutions were created centuries ago, when
\nsocial problems were fewer in number and less complicated than
\nthey are now. Also, Bali was a virtually homogeneous society at
\nthe times these institutions came into being.<\/p>\n
They did not realize these local institutions were not
\nproperly equipped with modern laws or judicial processes.<\/p>\n
\"So the last resort of (the traditional institutions) in
\ndealing with problems or disobedience is brute action,\" a source
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In addition to Djohny's murder, Bali has witnessed communal
\nacts of violence committed by members of Desa Adat and Banjar
\nagainst illegal housing complexes and Javanese immigrants working
\nin various informal sectors on the island.<\/p>\n
The most recent case occurred in Kuta, where hundreds of
\nsemipermanent kiosks belonging to street vendors were damaged and
\nset on fire when Desa Adat Kuta decided to make the streets
\ncleaner and more orderly.<\/p>\n
There also have been cases of Desa Adat imposing large
\nfines on rebellious members and prohibiting them from praying at
\nvillage temples. They also refuse to bury the \"traitors\" when
\nthey die.<\/p>\n
Djohny Leopato was definitely not the first victim of such mob
\nviolence, and will surely not be the last unless the Balinese
\nimmediately find a way to reform their traditional institutions.<\/p>\n
It is also a challenge for formal legal institutions to
\ninterfere in this complicated issue and strongly demand
\ntraditional community members and institutions be more civilized.<\/p>",
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