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.