A call worth noting

A call worth noting

Although a few months have passed since a major upheaval last
rocked this country, the statement issued over the weekend at the
conclusion of a three-day annual meeting of the Indonesian
Council of Ulemas (MUI), deserves to be welcomed.

Among other things, the statement called on Indonesian
Moslems, who make up the overwhelming majority of this country's
population, to help establish peace and national unity and to
prevent social unrest. Indonesians, the statement said, should
draw a lesson from the recent unrest and exercise self-restraint.

The council's concern is understandable since the religious
component -- as is also true of the ethnic and racial components
-- was one factor which stood out in most of the riots. This is
particularly true in the case of the incidents in Situbondo, East
Java and Tasikmalaya in which a number of churches and other
houses of worship were attacked and razed by mobs. And although
the context was somewhat different, religious and ethnic elements
also stood out in the bloody incidents in West Kalimantan in
which more than 300 people were reported killed.

An official account of those incidents is yet to be given. But
it is safe to say that none of the presently known and officially
recognized social, political or religious groups or organizations
had a direct hand in instigating the unrest. Government officials
have said that "third party" instigators were behind the
incidents, and although skeptics may find that an excuse for a
scapegoat -- an impression that has unfortunately been frequently
given by unsubstantiated official allegations in the past -- they
have gained a good deal of credibility after similar statements
were made by officials of the widely respected National
Commission on Human Rights.

This being the current situation, it would be interesting to
know who, or what, triggered those incidents. But until an
official clarification is given, a no less interesting question
to ponder is why people are so easily incited to committing acts
of violence. An interesting parallel was drawn by the chairman of
the National Commission on Human Rights, Munawir Sjadzali. A
burning match dropped on wet leaves would do no harm, he said.
But when the leaves are dry, that same match could easily cause a
conflagration.

We can only guess what Munawir Sjadzali had in mind when he
mentioned his allegorical dry leaves, but such social afflictions
as the prevailing social gap -- the disparity between rich and
poor -- and the injured sense of justice that exists in our
society, must be among them.

Curing those ills, then, would go a long way in helping to
prevent social conflagrations in the future. In the meantime,
people can prevent themselves from becoming the pawns of those
who seek to use discontent to promote their own interests. In
this respect we believe the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, with
the prestige and influence which it enjoys, has made a valuable
contribution to calming the situation.

But the task of bringing about peace and stability is one that
belongs to every member and every segment of our society. Every
individual citizen can do his or her part by exercising restraint
and tolerance, the authorities by upholding the principle of good
governance, the judiciary by maintaining those of fairness and
impartiality. Even though such an ideal situation is difficult to
attain, it is worth striving for since it is one that will
benefit us all.