A drift towards violence?

A drift towards violence?

Less than three months after the authorities put down the July
27 riots in Jakarta, reports of mass violence are again jolting
the nation. This time, the rampage took place in the East Java
town of Situbondo, 160 kilometers east of Surabaya. According to
reports, five people were killed in the riots and an undisclosed
number of churches and Christian schools were burned and damaged.
According to the Communion of Churches In Indonesia, churches
were also burned in the nearby towns of Besuki, Panarukan, Banyu
Putih, Asem Bagus and Wonorejo.

On the face of it, the triggering factor in both cases -- the
first one in Jakarta and the second and most recent one in East
Java -- appears to be the same: protests by a group or groups of
dissatisfied people which spread and assumed wider dimensions. If
one major dissimilarity is to be identified, it is, perhaps, the
fact that the Jakarta riots were a case of violence triggered by
violence, while the latest East Java case was provoked by crowd
dissatisfaction over a prosecutor's demand in a court of justice,
which was considered too lenient.

An official clarification of the most recent incident has yet
to be issued. However, initial reports stated that the riot broke
out during the trial of a local Moslem from an obscure sect who
is accused of blasphemy against Islam. The frenzy reportedly
began when the prosecutor demanded a five-year prison term for
the defendant, with the crowd clamoring for the death sentence.

Motives aside, this case appears to be only the latest in a
string of violent incidents that are fueled by public anger being
vented in a variety of ways. Student brawls and soccer
hooliganism, both of which appear to be happening with increasing
frequency, are relatively minor cases in point, distressing
though they are. All acts of lawlessness and violence should be
deplored. But when highly-sensitive issues such as race or
religion become involved, the situation can become truly
frightening.

The authorities are well aware of the dangers to national
unity and cohesion such a situation brings. However, before we,
as a nation, can undertake to do what needs to be done to
effectively improve the situation, at least two urgent questions
need to be answered: why the apparently growing trend towards
mass violence and how to prevent this trend from growing? The
standard answers could be offered: promote our innate Indonesian
sense of harmony and tolerance, maintain our traditional peaceful
religious coexistence and uphold the rule of law; praiseworthy
principles that have been expounded to exhaustion.

We certainly are not lacking in promulgating and maintaining
good principles. We believe that all of us, particularly those in
positions of power, can best do our part by simply practicing
what we preach. Let us show, by concrete example, that we respect
the rule of law and that we all stand equal before the law. Let
us show, again by concrete example, that we are a tolerant people
who respect the views and beliefs of others. In short, let us
honestly put into practice all the lofty principles that are
contained in our constitution and Pancasila ideology.

This is a good deal easier said than done. After all, we all
have our own goals and interests which we would like to see
realized. But it is a step that must be taken. Let us hold back
on the rhetoric and return to a climate of common sense. This
growing trend toward lawlessness and violence cannot be tolerated
-- unless we do not mind seeing our country gradually slide into
disarray.