Conflict must end in Sampit: Joint forum
Conflict must end in Sampit: Joint forum
JAKARTA (JP): The conflict in Central Kalimantan has invoked
mixed reactions from Madurese and Dayaks living outside the
province with some calling for peace and unity, and others
swearing revenge.
A joint forum of Madurese and Kalimantan students living in
Yogyakarta on Wednesday called for an end to the violence that
has claimed hundreds of lives since it first erupted on Feb. 18.
"We deeply regret the violence and we beg both sides to end
these useless acts as they violate human rights and religious
teachings," a joint statement issued by eight associations of
Madurese and Kalimantan students said.
The forum, called the Yogyakarta Madurese and Kalimantan
Students' Communication Forum for Peace, also urged the
government to curb the conflict.
"This forum is aimed at establishing solidarity and ending the
suspicion that the Madurese will take revenge against those
Dayaks who live in Java," a representative of the Madurese
students Efendi Rahman said, adding that the forum would also
help raise funds for the victims.
South Kalimantan student Muhammad Hafid Azmi said that similar
action should be taken by Madurese and Dayak students in other
areas.
But in Surabaya, Madurese figures took a more combative
stance, threatening to take revenge on Dayaks in East Java if the
violence in Sampit were not stopped.
"We've been patient enough. But what happened in Sampit is
inhuman. We can't stay calm while our fellow Madurese are
suffering," said businessman Ali Badri Zaini at a meeting of the
Madurese Community Association on Wednesday.
Another Madurese, Mustofa, warned that they had listed the
names of Dayak people living in Surabaya.
However, Madurese elder M. Noor called for calm and urged
people to let the government and security forces handle the
situation.
"But the government should be quicker and more anticipative.
The government has intelligence officers. How could this tragedy
happen?" he asked.
Separately on Wednesday, noted academics asserted that the
Sampit unrest was a clear example of how the law was not being
upheld in this country.
Achmad Ali, a law professor from Hasanuddin University in
Makassar, South Sulawesi said that the disturbances had occurred
because the people no longer trusted the law.
"The only way to curb such riots is for the officials to act
wisely and conscionably," he told The Jakarta Post in Makassar.
Achmad's colleague, sociologist M. Darwis urged the government
to handle the rioting seriously as it could be categorized as
ethnic cleansing.
He regretted that President Abdurrahman Wahid had not decided
to cut short his foreign trip and return home to help resolve the
situation.
"The President should hurry back home. He should form an
independent team to resolve the problem and quickly visit Sampit
to calm the situation down," Darwis told the Post in Makassar.
Meanwhile in Semarang, Central Java, noted psychologist from
Diponegoro University Darmanto Jatman said the riots were the
result of the primitive general stereotyping of both ethnic
groups.
"The key is interaction, starting from the top right down to
the grassroots," said Darmanto.
In Purwokerto, Central Java, rector of Jenderal Soedirman
State University, Rubiyanto Misman said that the government
should impose a state of civil emergency to control the unrest in
Sampit.
"It is because the police are unable to control the rioting.
Clashes between the Dayaks and Madurese have happened too often
and have never been solved just by negotiations," he told The
Post by telephone.
Rubiyanto further asserted that Abdurrahman "has to return
home soon. He has to be responsible," he added.
Meanwhile, 100 Madurese students from Surabaya and Malang in
East Java staged a protest in front of the East Java Police
headquarters, demanding that National Police chief Gen. Surojo
Bimantoro resign as a result of his failure to curb the conflict.
In Semarang, 100 students marched demanding that the President
resolve "conflicts of disintegration" such as the one in
Sampit.(team)