Community speaks up to prevent unrest in jittery Bali

Community speaks up to prevent unrest in jittery Bali

By I Wayan Juniarta

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The once peaceful Bali is being
threatened by fresh violence and riots, but the local community
is taking action to protect their home.

No one in Bali could have predicted that their peaceful island
would be rocked by unrest, but last October they saw brutality,
violence and hatred spread across the island of the gods.

Early last month, the neighboring island of Lombok was also
hit by violence related to ethnic and religious conflict. Bali,
again, was shocked and on the alert.

Attempts to broaden the scope of this unrest from Lombok to
Bali by so-called provocateurs were prevented.

On Jan. 30, religious leaders and representatives from various
professional bodies, youth groups and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) sat down together for a reconciliation
dialog sponsored by the Balinese Peaceful Communion.

The communion includes a number of organizations representing
people from different religions, such as Muslims, Hindus and
Christians, and NGOs such as Manikaya Kauci and Bali's Legal
Institute.

Agus Indra Udayana, coordinator of Ashram Bali Gandhi
Vidyapith (a religious organization promoting nonviolence and
tolerance), said people in Bali were now working very seriously
to strengthen the relationship and understanding among different
religious communities and ethnic groups living on the island.

"We could no longer accept and tolerate violent action in the
name of religion," explained Agus.

Last week, thousands of Balinese held a joint prayer involving
people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds. The
participants gathered at Kuta Beach to pray for peace on their
island.

Joseph Theodorus Wulianadi, popularly known as Joger, called
on the Balinese to respect each other's beliefs and cultures.

"Our enemies are not Chinese, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians,
Muslims, Balinese or Javanese. We are all the same, human
beings," said Joger, owner of the popular Joger T-shirts.

Students in Bali have already begun to organize dialogs and
activities to boost religious tolerance.

The Indonesian Muslim Student Association (PMII) held a series
of activities such as social and political dialogs and cultural
discussions to broaden people's horizon.

PMII is an inclusive organization whose members include
Muslim and Christian students and other community members.

The Balinese Peaceful Communion has launched a major program
to promote ethnic and religious tolerance among residents in
Bali.

It has also begun a program to assist refugees from Mataram,
Lombok, who number more than 3,000 people in 18 locations.

To prevent internal conflict, members of the communion
decided to remove all outward signs of their own personal
religious beliefs.

"We will never discuss our backgrounds. What we are doing now
is helping people and creating a better understanding among human
beings," said Arifudin, the organization's secretary.

Other organizations are also active in nurturing harmony in
Bali. Anak Agung Gde Kusuma Wardhana, an aristocrat from Puri
Kesima (Kesima Palace) in Denpasar, established the Independent
Forum for the Monitoring of Developments in Bali.

Last month, the forum hosted a gathering at Puri Kesiman to
commemorate Christmas, Galungan and Idul Fitri.

Wardhana previously promised to safeguard Bali from intrusion
by outsiders. He claimed to have prepared hundreds of civil
guards from Puri Kesima.

The recent conflicts among different religious and ethnic
groups may also have resulted from the friction caused by
economic difficulties. Whatever the cause, Bali has been
witnessed to mutual distrust among different religious groups
recently.

A few days before Christmas, a conflict broke out between
members of the Hindu and Christian communities.

A rumor that Christians were handing out Balinese versions of
the Bible caused an uproar among Hindu students, who protested
any efforts to convert the Hindu Balinese.

There were also rumors that mobs planned to burn a church in
Banyupoh, Singaraja, and attack Christian communities in Melaya,
Jembrana, West Bali.

The most recent rumor was that Bali would be hit by another
riot on Feb. 3. According to the rumor, hundreds of vessels were
heading from an East Java town to Bali, bringing with them
rioters and provocateurs.

Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar has vowed to
protect Bali and maintain its reputation as a safe place for its
residents and visitors.