Avoiding a breakup
Avoiding a breakup
Nobody who has observed the series of outbreaks of sectarian
violence that has erupted in several of this country's regions
since the downfall of the authoritarian regime of President
Soeharto in May last year can escape the impression that
something must be fundamentally wrong in Indonesia.
The latest example of how bad the situation has become is the
still festering unrest in the eastern Indonesian province of
Maluku, which up to yesterday had claimed at least 142 lives
since the first flare-up of violence occurred on Jan. 19. This is
not to mention the scores of people who have been injured, the
countless homes, buildings and other property that have gone up
in flames or otherwise been destroyed, and, above all, the
lingering climate of hostility and fear that has left the once
relaxed fabric of social life totally disrupted in the province.
In this kind of situation the stern warnings that have been
issued by the police and the military to the effect that looters
and troublemakers would be shot on the spot seem to have helped
little or even not at all. The trouble continues. Citizens who
have had their weapons confiscated somehow seem to have managed
to rearm themselves and continue their attacks on each other.
So far -- and with valid justification considering the often
startling speed with which the violence spreads -- both the
authorities and the public have tended to put the bulk of the
blame for such conditions on "agents provocateurs" driven by
sinister political motives, and whose identities have remained
mysterious despite months of efforts by police and military
intelligence officers to find them.
A deeper look at the issue, however, makes such a judgement
seem rather shallow. While there can be no doubt that finding any
such malevolent agents -- if there are any -- would certainly
make it a good deal easier for the authorities to keep things
under control, the more important thing to do is to identify the
root of the problem and to take whatever measures are necessary
to correct it.
One has to remember that more than 30 years of efforts by an
authoritarian regime to bury or gloss over any existing regional,
ethnic and religious disparities may actually have exacerbated
rather than diminished sectarian differences in this country --
one of the most diverse nations on earth. It has been proposed
that by extending special favors or treatment to certain
community groups for political objectives in a country where no
free speech or opposition existed, for example, the past regime
may have actually honed the differences.
In any case, the lesson that is to be learned from the spate
of unrest and violence that has plagued this country over the
past months is that repressive measures such as the shooting on
the spot of troublemakers must be seen as stop-gap policies that
are effective only for the moment. In the longer term a more
fundamental solution must be found.
Sectarian differences are normal and acceptable in any
society, and even more so in Indonesia, a country of more than
17,000 islands inhabited by hundreds of distinct ethnic
population groups speaking as many local dialects and languages
and adhering to all the major religions found on this planet.
Somehow, a way must be found to instill in the millions of
Indonesians the awareness that those differences are an asset
rather than a liability. Education -- including religious
education conducted with erudition and good sense -- should play
an important role in implanting such an awareness among the
population. This is a goal that may take years to achieve, but it
is one that is worth going after. The alternative could be a
Balkanization of this country -- a breakup that is not so
imaginary given the alarming trend that we are at present
observing.