Abductions hard to understand

Abductions hard to understand

From Pikiran Rakyat

Judging from the media reports on missing people, I cannot make head or tail how this thing could happen. It is as if we were in an uncivilized country.

Thank God some of the missing people have returned to their homes, although, unfortunately, most of them are tight-lipped about their disappearance (one of them, Pius Lustrilanang, has revealed what happened to him during his abduction -- Ed.), frightened and not believing that we live in a state based on Pancasila with a government which will protect them. Yet, fact is fact and it is difficult to understand this fact.

I very much regret that the government has not taken any concrete action by, for example, questioning those who have returned and, at the same time, protecting them in such a way that as citizens, they will feel safe and secure in their own country.

Ask them who abducted them -- in the case of those abducted -- or why they have had to go into hiding -- in the case of those in hiding. Ignoring those who have returned will only lead to suspicion that the whole thing has been cooked up by the government.

A situation like this will only erode the confidence that the people and the international community may have in the government. A more serious impact will be that the multidimensional crisis now hitting our country will only worsen.

Therefore, I wish to suggest that the government, with all its apparatuses, clarify the whole thing so that we, Indonesian citizens, will not remain in the grip of our fear and lose trust in the government.

To those of you who have been released safe and sound from your abduction, I wish to extend my best wishes and, at the same time, make an appeal that you should be ready to talk about what has happened to you during your disappearance. We live in a country that professes to champion the law. So it is strange if we fail to get protection from the authorities.

As for those who are still missing, let me pray to God the Almighty that He will always protect you and give you the strength and courage to come through this extremely difficult ordeal.

TATANG BILLY PADMADIWIRJA

Bandung, West Java