Ethnic hatred still a threat to melting pot city

Ethnic hatred still a threat to melting pot city

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statement that pluralism
has proven to be a blessing for Indonesia rather than a threat to
national unity, apparently is not understood by all. An example
of that is the terror threats by religious extremists ahead of
Christmas. Some people do not understand the meaning or spirit of
pluralism, and are thus easily provoked to participate in ethnic
or religious conflicts -- often sparked by trivial incidents. The
Jakarta Post's Abdul Khalik has delved into these sensitive
issues and this is the second of four articles dealing with
society's understanding of pluralism.

Ali Basya, the community unit (RW) 10 chief of Kali Baru
subdistrict in Bekasi, has struggled to understand the recent
clash between Ambonese residents of Titian Indah housing complex
and Betawi people outside the complex.

"An Ambonese man was Brushed by a motorcycle ridden by a
Betawi person. He scolded the motorcyclist but the motorcyclist
only returned with more people and the seemingly trivial incident
escalated," he said.

The July 17 incident caused people around the complex to unite
against the Ambonese. At least five people were seriously
injured, while several buildings were destroyed and burned.

Over 100 police officers were deployed to restore order. They
built a barricade along the road, separating the two areas for
days.

After three days, the situation returned to normal and
representatives of both sides were taken to Bekasi Police station
to sign a peace agreement.

However, Ali expressed concern that, as socialization between
the two ethnic groups was uncommon, such an incident could
reoccur.

Sociologist Ida Ruwaida Noor of the University of Indonesia
(UI) agreed with Ali, saying that unless the root causes of the
problem -- the economic and social gap, lack of communications
and history of conflicts between ethnic groups -- were not
adequately addressed by the government and society at large, such
conflicts would continue to reemerge.

"Our survey of conflicts nationwide has revealed that most of
them were sparked by small matters. But since there is an
underlying problem among ethnic groups, it is enough to spark a
bigger clash," she said.

Data from the Central Statistics Bureau (BPS) shows that
Javanese people comprise the largest ethnic group with almost
three million people of the Jakarta's nine million residents.
Other dominant ethnic groups are Betawi with 2.4 million,
Sundanese 1.3 million, Chinese 500,000 and Batak 300,000. The
remaining 1.5 million are Minangkabau, Melayu and Palembang
people.

With such a multi-ethnic population, Jakarta is prone to
miscommunication and conflicts, Ida said.

"Compounded by economic injustice, whereby one ethnic group is
'wealthier' than others, a little provocation is enough to spark
a conflict," she added.

Ida proposed that the city administration formulate a plan and
related policy to prevent such conflicts from recurring. The plan
and policy should be inherent in economic and social development
strategies, she said.

"Recently, the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas)
designed a sustainable peace development plan. They have termed
it 'conflict sensitive' development planning. I hope it can be
implemented," she said.

She said that the government should take into account feelings
of injustice that could arise among ethnic groups in the
implementation of its development programs, such as the
construction of housing complexes, markets or offices.

Major ethnic conflicts 1998-2004

No. Incident Ethnic group involved Victims

1. May riot 1998 Chinese and Betawi helped Hundreds of Chinese

by other ethnic groups people reportedly

were raped and

killed

2. Ketapang riot Multi-ethnic and religious Seven killed and

Nov. 1998 brawl allegedly sparked by hundreds injured

gambling and drinking

3. Manggarai Multi-ethnic brawl Several people

brawl 2000 killed, countless

others injured and

dozens of houses

burned

4. Kebayoran Lama Betawi and Madura sparked One killed and four

clash 2001 by traffic accident injured

5. Cakung riot, Betawi and Madura sparked 17 people injured

March 2002 by jealousy over a woman

6. Kalijodo riot, Makassar and Mandar sparked One killed,

March 2002 by gambling hundreds of houses

burned

7. Duren Sawit Multi-ethnic sparked by 10 injured

clash, August quarrel in dangdut

2003 music show

8. Titian Indah Ambonese and Betawi sparked Five injured,

clash, 2004 by motorcycle accident several buildings

burned

Source: media reports