Banjarmasin tragedy

Banjarmasin tragedy

It took the nation a little while to realize that Friday's
unrest in Banjarmasin is turning out to be one of the worst in
the history of modern Indonesia. The tension that followed in the
South Kalimantan provincial capital after the rioting, combined
with poor communication facilities, prevented outsiders from
realizing the real extent of the tragedy until Sunday. Only as
workers began clearing the debris of the gutted buildings did we
learn that the casualty figure had reached a horrific proportion.

By yesterday, more than 136 charred bodies had been found
inside gutted buildings, and the death toll was expected to rise.
Most of the bodies were found inside burned supermarkets. Since
the stores apparently closed as soon as the riot began and
workers were sent home, police concluded that most of the victims
were looters trapped inside the buildings.

This fact did not make the incident less horrific. Any kind of
violence, especially of the scale we saw in Banjarmasin, must be
condemned. The resulting casualties is a tragedy, whether they
were innocent bystanders or looters.

The Banjarmasin incident, which was sparked by clashes between
supporters of Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP),
brought a sad end to the 27-day election campaign. Before
Banjarmasin, many people had already pronounced this year's
election campaign the most violent in the history of the New
Order government. This turned out to be an understatement. The
death toll surpassed the nationwide campaign-related deaths,
estimated at 126.

Despite the violent nature of this year's campaign, the
Banjarmasin incident still came as a shock. Most people,
including the security apparatus, had thought violence was likely
to erupt in big cities in Java. On the last day of the campaign
in Jakarta, for example, 20,000 troopers were deployed to secure
the capital. There were few signs, if any, that a major eruption
would occur in Banjarmasin.

It is even more disturbing to recall that the government,
which organizes the election, had introduced stringent measures
to prevent precisely the kind of violence that erupted in
Banjarmasin. The authorities knew that frictions between
supporters of rival political parties could grow into violence.
Zoning was introduced, and outdoor political rallies were
limited. Police and soldiers were deployed to keep supporters of
rival parties apart.

As with any national tragedy of this scale, a thorough
investigation is merited, not in order to find scapegoats, but to
prevent a repetition, in Banjarmasin, or elsewhere in Indonesia.

In fact, there are several institutions that must now launch
investigations, whether independently or jointly. The General
Elections Institute, for one, owes the public an explanation of
what triggered the riot. The House of Representatives, now in
recess, should launch an investigation of its own. Although there
are no immediate indications of human rights violations, the
National Commission on Human Rights, given its integrity and the
respect people have for it, could help with an investigation,
official or otherwise. The Armed Forces might also want to
tighten up intelligence, especially now that South Kalimantan
officials said the riot was not a spontaneous occurrence. Golkar
and PPP should also give an account to the public about the
behavior of their supporters.

Finally, since violence also occurred in many other parts of
Indonesia during the election campaign period, the Banjarmasin
tragedy is all the more reason why the nation ought to re-examine
not only the campaign rules, but also the election and political
system.

In the present rigid political system, the campaign period has
became a time to let off steam. Campaign time is the only chance
people have every five years to air their grievances. Tightening
the campaign rules, as the government tried to do this year, only
deprived the people of that opportunity. From what we saw of this
year's campaign, there is a lot of pent-up rage that under the
present system could only be channeled through violence.

The Banjarmasin tragedy has given the nation plenty to reflect
on, as well as plenty of homework. But the nation's biggest task
now is to find a more appropriate political system that is
democratic and less prone to violence.