Gambling doesn't pay off in Ngawi<\/p>\n
Tarko Sudiarto, The Jakarta Post, Ngawi<\/p>\n
Pardi and Giman are among the lovers of togel, a kind of
\nillegal lottery, in Ngawi, East Java, bordering Central Java.
\nEvery night until the end of November, they would gather at a
\nstall at the town's market to try their luck.<\/p>\n
Togel gambling didn't just offer Pardi and Giman hope -- most
\nof all, it made both their days and nights livelier.<\/p>\n
For Pardi and Giman, togel is part of their daily activities.<\/p>\n
And most of the time, it is also unproductive.<\/p>\n
\"Pardi, Giman ... instead of expecting too much from togel
\nwhich is uncertain, you'd better find yourselves a more serious
\njob to feed your wife and children. That's surely more important
\nand logical because you are the backbones of your families,\" one
\nof their friends advises the two.<\/p>\n
That is an excerpt of a conversation taken from the Obrolan
\nWarung Kopi (Coffee Shop Chatting) column in the local tabloid
\nSuara Trinil (The Voice of Trinil), in its third edition issued
\nin November, 2001.<\/p>\n
The tabloid, which takes its name from a location in Ngawi
\nregency on the banks of the Solo river where the fossils of the
\noldest Java Men were found, ran a report about togel lotteries in
\nthis small town.<\/p>\n
It is not clear, however, if it was this report that prompted
\nthe Ngawi Muslims Forum (FUIN) to launch a sudden operation
\nagainst togel gambling venues in the town, especially in the main
\nmarket on the night of Nov. 29.<\/p>\n
Groups of FUIN members dressed in white leapt from three
\ntrucks and attacked people in the Ngawi market, seizing six whom
\nthey believed to be togel operators before handing them over to a
\nnearby police station.<\/p>\n
It was at that point that the tension in the otherwise
\npeaceful and tranquil town began to rise.<\/p>\n
FUIN's decision to take the law into its own hands angered
\nmany of the town's residents, particularly those belonging to the
\nruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
\nas the six men handed over to police were all PDI-P members.<\/p>\n
The next morning, the tension heightened, as a crowd gathered
\nin front of the Ngawi police precinct demanding the release of
\nthe six men.<\/p>\n
When the police refused, the crowd headed for the FUIN office
\non the town's main road Jl. Ahmad Yani, which is actually a shop
\nhouse belonging to FUIN leader Muhyi Effendi and also serves as
\nthe local headquarters of the Laskar Jihad or Jihad Force.<\/p>\n
Members of the crowd then vented their anger by ransacking the
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Militant FUIN members retaliated on Saturday morning by
\ntargeting the home of local PDI Perjuangan chairman Yuwono
\nSusatyo, whom they accused of masterminding Friday's attack on
\nMuhyi's home and also of backing the gambling industry in Ngawi.<\/p>\n
\"I was going to the mosque across the road for a dawn prayer
\nwhen someone knocked on the door. Before I had time to open the
\ndoor, it was forced open. These people rushed into the house,
\ntheir swords at the ready, looking for my son,\" said Mrs.
\nSuwarno, Yuwono's mother.<\/p>\n
The intruders then reportedly assaulted Yuwono before
\nabducting him.<\/p>\n
News of Yuwono's disappearance spread quickly, creating fears
\nof bloody clashes in the town as Laskar Jihad sent reinforcements
\nto Ngawi from various locations in Central Java and Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Responding to these incidents, the police raided the FUIN
\noffice, confiscating 10 home-made bombs, several knives and
\nmachetes as well as a handgun and 18 bullets.<\/p>\n
The police also arrested more than 100 Laskar Jihad members.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the police searched a house being rented by the
\nLaskar Jihad and found more home-made bombs, self-assembled long-
\nbarreled guns, machetes, knives, sickles, swords and bayonets.<\/p>\n
People were afraid of a recurrence of the chaos that broke out
\nin 1965 in Ngawi, then a base for the outlawed Indonesian
\nCommunist Party (PKI), when thousands of people were killed.<\/p>\n
After the incident made national headlines and police moved
\nin, the feared fighting between hardline Laskar Jihad members and
\nPDI Perjuangan supporters failed to materialize.<\/p>\n
But uneasiness prevails in Ngawi, especially because Yuwono's
\nwhereabouts are still not known.<\/p>\n
\"Regardless of his poor condition, we would like to see him
\nreturned to us, dead or alive. This will be a serious ordeal for
\nour family, given that he is the eldest son with three children.
\nDo they as fellow Muslims have the heart to see our plight?\"
\nYuwono Kartiko, Yuwono's younger brother, asked.<\/p>\n
Laskar Jihad\", through lawyer Muhammad Mahendra, refused to
\nadmit that their members abducted Susatyo. The lawyer told the
\nmedia that Laskar Jihad members had handed Susatyo over to a
\nlocal police station, which later released him.<\/p>\n
Ngawi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yovianes Mahar denied the
\nstatement made by Laskar Jihad, calling it a lie.<\/p>\n
\"There is not a morsel of truth to it. They are lying when
\nthey say that we accepted Susatyo and then released him.\"<\/p>\n
It is, in any case, entirely the police's fault to begin with.
\nIt did not care about the widespread togel gambling in the town,
\nand failed to take action when armed gangs began rounding up
\nsuspected gamblers.<\/p>\n
While the damage has already been done in Ngawi, this incident
\ncould act as a salutary lesson for police faced with similar
\nsituations in other parts of the country.<\/p>",
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