The mystery must be solved<\/p>\n
What on earth is going on in Banyuwangi? Although this
\nquestion still begs to be answered, the facts seem simple enough.
\nOfficial police reports say that more than 100 people have been
\nmysteriously murdered to date by death squads of masked men
\nprowling the countryside at night in this far corner of East
\nJava. But although all the murder victims appear to have been
\nlocal Moslem religious teachers and leaders, the authorities seem
\nto be as much in the dark as the area's residents as to the
\nmotive for the killings.<\/p>\n
Oddly enough, even though police reports speculate that those
\nbeing targeted are \"black magic\" practitioners, many of the
\nvictims were in reality religious leaders affiliated to the mass-
\nbased traditional Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
\nRather unusually, the national media did not start reporting on
\nthe murders until after scores of victims had already fallen.<\/p>\n
Given the identity and social position of most of those
\nkilled, it is really not at all surprising that officials
\ninitially cast their suspicion on remnants of the now outlawed
\ncommunist movement. After all, hundreds or even thousands of
\ncommunists and suspected communists were killed in the area in
\nthe aftermath of the 1965 communist coup attempt by either
\nmilitary or civilian death squads. What could be simpler than to
\nassume that the present spate of murders are revenge killings
\ncommitted by descendants of those killed?<\/p>\n
Such a conjecture, however, has been dismissed by Abdurrahman
\nWahid, the highly respected leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama
\norganization in Jakarta. He has argued that any surviving
\ncommunists would be too old and frail to conduct or even organize
\nsuch a killing spree, while their descendants are of a new
\ngeneration of Indonesians to whom communism is an alien ideology.<\/p>\n
Amid public bewilderment over the case, the official line the
\nauthorities are for now adopting seems to be that the killings
\nare \"purely criminal\" in nature. But while this may be to a
\ncertain degree reassuring -- the absence of political motives
\nshould reduce the possibility of political repercussions -- it
\nstill begs the main question: What actually is going on in
\nBanyuwangi?<\/p>\n
In the meantime, new victims continue to fall. During
\nWednesday night and early Thursday morning, four more people were
\nkilled in their respective homes in three separate districts in
\nthe area, their mutilated bodies dumped in their yards. Two other
\npeople in a neighboring district managed to escape murder
\nattempts because they were forewarned by neighbors. Cases of
\nsimilar killings are meanwhile being reported from other
\ndistricts in the area.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, all this has caused considerable fear and
\napprehension among the area's residents. The killings are also
\nraising fears in other parts of the country of unwanted
\nconsequences for the nation, especially if suspicions of
\npolitical motives prove to be correct. The National Commission on
\nHuman Rights (Komnas HAM) and other independent aid organizations
\nhave criticized the government for having been slow to react. The
\nkillings, after all, reportedly began as early as July, only to
\nescalate in recent weeks and months.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, government leaders and legislators have of late
\nbegun to display a greater sense of urgency in trying to end the
\nkillings and solve the mystery. Fact-finding teams are being
\ndispatched to the area, possible victims are being sheltered and
\nsuspects are being held and questioned. Providing adequate
\nprotection to the area's local residents is a most commendable
\nfirst step to take in this complex mystery drama.<\/p>\n
It is of no less importance, however, that the mystery be
\nsolved and revealed to the public -- honestly and transparently
\n-- so that any mutual suspicions that may exist among the people
\nof the area may be dispelled.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-mystery-must-be-solved-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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