Bali traditional institutions under question

Bali traditional institutions under question

By I Wayan Juniarta

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The beautiful and pristine Beratan Lake
in Bedugul, one of Bali's famous tourist resorts, located 60
kilometers north of Denpasar, recently witnessed a tragedy that
cost the life of 55-year-old Djohny Leopato.

While Djohny was not Balinese, he and his family owned the
legal rights to a 1.9-hectare plot of land in the resort area
opposite the lake, a strategic and pleasant place for
vacationers.

The tragedy, which took place on Dec. 15 sometime before dawn,
shook the once peace-loving Balinese community. On this date,
Djohny, on his way to his property, was attacked and killed by
hundreds of local villagers in Bedugul.

Dozens of police officers, who tried their best to save the
life of Djohny, could only stand by helplessly and witness the
murder.

This brutal killing began as a common land dispute when Djohny
filed a lawsuit against the Bali administration.

He claimed his family owned the property, stating that some 30
years ago the Bali administration rented the land from his
family, failing to pay them any compensation.

The disputed land is now occupied by Lila Graha, a 16 villa
resort. Apparently, the resort is a gold mine for the local
administration, and it refused to return the land to Djohny and
his family.

The case wound its way through the courts before landing in
the Supreme Court, which on May 3, 2000, issued a verdict in
favor of Djohny.

The verdict angered Bedugul villagers, who viewed Djohny,
being both a non-Balinese and a non-Hindu, as "a greedy
outsider".

Silently supported by the local administration and
legislators, the traditional institutions of the local community,
such as Banjar Adat and Desa Adat, began mobilizing their members
to oppose the verdict.

When in the middle of November 2000 the officers of the court
attempted to enforce the Supreme Court's decision, the local
community was waiting for them.

Thousands of locals from Banjar Adat and Desa Adat, mostly
attired in traditional Balinese dress, surrounded the disputed
area and prevented the officers from enforcing the decision.

A second attempt to enforce the Supreme Court's decision
occurred on Dec. 15, the day Djohny was killed.

The night before the murder, a large number of locals set up
two roadblocks in the area and began stopping and checking
passing vehicles.

One of the vehicles that was stopped was Djohny's car. The
villagers chased and then blocked the car. The victim was pulled
out of the vehicle and beaten to death, and the car set ablaze.

Several hours later, the regent of Tabanan, Adi Wiryatama,
announced that the enforcement of the Supreme Court's decision
was suspended until further notice, and that he would always
support his people's struggle and aspirations.

National Police chief Gen. Bimantoro ordered the Bali Police
to arrest those involved in the murder of Djohny. Up to this
point in time, however, it seems the Bali Police have taken no
action and have remained silent on the matter.

Meanwhile, the people of Bedugul attempted to justify
the murder by claiming it was "the work of the gods".

The gods were angry with Djohny, that is why on that fatal day
many villagers were in a state of trance known as Kerauhan when
they murdered Djohny, they claimed.

Djohny's death caused questions among Balinese intellectuals,
who still shiver when they recall the murder.

They posed two major questions. First, the scholars questioned
whether the empowerment of Bali's traditional institutions had
gone too far and down the wrong path. The second question raised
was whether Bali's formal legal institutions were capable of
working effectively to deal with cases of "mob justice".

"Empowering traditional institutions, giving them more power,
politically and economically, without establishing a way to
supervise, contain and to control them is a very dangerous
endeavor," said social observer.

During the New Order regime, the power of many Bali's
traditional institutions, such as Banjar and Desa Adat, were
systematically lessened and transformed into tools of the
government.

The New Order used local institutions as an effective means to
carry out or disseminate development programs, and, later, to
mobilize villagers to support the then ruling Golkar party.

By becoming tools of the New Order, the traditional
institutions practically lost most of their freedom and ability
to solve problems democratically.

When the regime was toppled, many of Bali's intellectuals
began to question the way the government treated these
traditional institutions.

They demanded Banjar and Desa Adat be given more space and
authority to rule themselves. Because the current administration
of Bali envisions stronger traditional institutions playing a
larger role in a solving many of the problems on the tourist
island, it warmly responded to the intellectuals' demand.

It seems that both the scholars and the government forgot that
these traditional institutions were created centuries ago, when
social problems were fewer in number and less complicated than
they are now. Also, Bali was a virtually homogeneous society at
the times these institutions came into being.

They did not realize these local institutions were not
properly equipped with modern laws or judicial processes.

"So the last resort of (the traditional institutions) in
dealing with problems or disobedience is brute action," a source
said.

In addition to Djohny's murder, Bali has witnessed communal
acts of violence committed by members of Desa Adat and Banjar
against illegal housing complexes and Javanese immigrants working
in various informal sectors on the island.

The most recent case occurred in Kuta, where hundreds of
semipermanent kiosks belonging to street vendors were damaged and
set on fire when Desa Adat Kuta decided to make the streets
cleaner and more orderly.

There also have been cases of Desa Adat imposing large
fines on rebellious members and prohibiting them from praying at
village temples. They also refuse to bury the "traitors" when
they die.

Djohny Leopato was definitely not the first victim of such mob
violence, and will surely not be the last unless the Balinese
immediately find a way to reform their traditional institutions.

It is also a challenge for formal legal institutions to
interfere in this complicated issue and strongly demand
traditional community members and institutions be more civilized.