Decisive action needed for Maluku<\/p>\n
By David Keller<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Unfortunately, there exist few \"easy\" options
\nfor President Abdurrahman Wahid to swiftly bring a halt to the
\nintercommunal violence in Maluku, where religious belief is the
\noutward scapegoat defining the lines of division.<\/p>\n
Conflict resolution for the short-term can be found by
\ninvestigating the contentious issues of centralism and the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI) and relations between TNI and the
\nmedia. For the long-term, the underlying psychology embedded in
\nIndonesian society is a problem hindering conflict resolution.<\/p>\n
There is hesitation in Jakarta, because if conflict resolution
\nattempts for Maluku fail, possibly meaning exceeding the
\n\"acceptable\" number of deaths between warring parties and the
\nTNI, then negative public opinion from Maluku and elsewhere will
\nassociate the TNI with continued violence.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the problems will be seen as just another event
\nof unwanted power radiating from the center. This would surely
\nfuel separatist thought in a province.<\/p>\n
This reasoning is especially needed since the TNI is now in
\ncontrol of security in Maluku, brought in after countless failed
\ntruces within the province. Regrettably, past results of TNI
\nactivities infer that the TNI capacity to restore order is
\nunknown. Abdurrahman Wahid confessed that, \"We don't know what
\nthe effect of this military intervention will have. We will only
\nfind out later whether their arrival is welcomed or not,\" (The
\nJakarta Post, Dec. 30, 1999).<\/p>\n
This is an honest remark filled with ambiguity and is an
\nabysmal confession for any military of the world to receive from
\nits head of state. However, as Abdurrahman is President and
\nsupreme commander of the TNI, he is accountable for TNI actions.
\nIn a sense, the TNI holds the balance of power regarding the
\nreputation of the government.<\/p>\n
Despite positive public opinion regarding the government thus
\nfar, if the TNI cannot fulfill the desires for peace, then the
\ngovernment will be under increasing pressure from Maluku,
\nIndonesia and the globalized world, unfortunate for advocates of
\nnoninterference and the unitary state concept.<\/p>\n
Indeed, strong advocates for the continuance of the unitary
\nstate concept in the midst of death and destruction and accruing
\npoor welfare in Maluku, must be rather bemused at present.<\/p>\n
To remain optimistic, the TNI must be very diplomatic with its
\nactions in Maluku, careful to balance \"impartiality\" with
\n\"partiality\". The difficulty then, is when to be impartial so as
\nnot to incite violence and when to be partial when decisive
\ndecisions must be made, especially when tracking down and
\napprehending inciters of violence.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult if the decision-
\nmaking authority, the TNI, may have various predispositions
\nregarding what kind of conflict resolutions to implement,
\nespecially since the TNI is as diverse in attitude -- unusual for
\na military due its cultural makeup -- as Maluku itself.<\/p>\n
As a result, impartiality and partiality fuse together during
\nmoments in the field that need decisive actions. To counter this,
\nfirst-rate TNI officership is needed on the ground, and this is
\ncrucial especially in conflicts where ethnicity and religion have
\npredetermined the rules of engagement for the pacifying force.<\/p>\n
A major player, the TNI must accept in association with its
\noperations in the field the mass media. With a new government
\nsustaining credibility thus far, the TNI now has to supplement
\nthe momentum and resurrect itself as a professional TNI.<\/p>\n
Since the media has been the means through which the TNI has
\nrightly lost credibility, the media is also the best means
\nthrough which to restore credibility, and Maluku is the platform.<\/p>\n
Restoration of peace measures which include curfews,
\nprohibiting gatherings of groups of people and possible martial
\nlaw, need media coverage as they are measures with severe
\nconsequences if violated. The open media has the role and the
\nright to convey everything from the field and it will be the
\npublic watchers who will justly attribute credit to the TNI or
\nthe other according to information in relation to the adversity.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the media must be fully accepted as the medium to
\nconvey the hopefully impending message of social restoration and
\ndecisive TNI leadership, most importantly to the people of Maluku
\nand secondly to Indonesia and the wider world.<\/p>\n
Restoration of peace as the short-term goal does not, however,
\nsolve the psychological damage that must be in the minds of many
\nof the two million who inhabit Maluku. As a result, Maluku may
\nenter the realm of cyclical conflict repeated every few years, as
\noften occurs with African nations.<\/p>\n
Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Majid provided a perspective
\nwith the comment that Indonesia is a society based on low trust
\nresulting from the past regimes. Since trust is the basis of any
\nrelationship, this certainly warrants further investigation in
\napplication to restoring intercommunal trust in Maluku.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the fear of interference, which is linked to the
\nfear of malu (losing face), are cultural factors in transition
\nas collectivism makes way for individualism as a process of
\nglobalization. The culture of criticism that has emerged, needed
\nfor the changes that have occurred in Indonesia, has created a
\nvacuum of intersocietal hostility in prematurely constituted
\ncommunities where traditionalism is at its greatest.<\/p>\n
As a result, communities like those in Maluku revert back to
\nreligious common ground when contentious issues such as
\ndisparities in welfare result. For the short-term, however, focus
\nmust be on restoring peace in Maluku.<\/p>\n
Media disclosure of good TNI peace restoration practices will
\nresult in accrued credibility for the government, and the TNI
\nwill not be disgraced as happened with East Timor. As Shakespeare
\nstated: \"All's well that ends well,\" meaning, do a good job in
\nMaluku, or at least try to with minimal human and institutional
\ndamage, then previous failures can be forgotten, or at least
\ndisassociated from the present system. The ball is in the court
\nof the TNI, at stake, the government.<\/p>\n
The writer is a graduate in Australia-Asia relations,
\ncurrently working at the Center for Social and Cultural Studies,
\nIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)<\/p>",
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