Everybody's duty

Everybody's duty

It may seem strange to describe the neighborhoods disrupted by
fighting around the Kampung Rambutan bus station on Wednesday as
lucky, but that is exactly what they are.

Although lives were lost, property destroyed and bus services
brought to a complete standstill, the disruption caused was
nothing compared to the carnage that might have been expected on
the basis of recent experience in other parts of Indonesia.

While confusion still exists over what precisely happened, it
appears that the clashes grew out of a scuffle between a bus
conductor and a pickpocket. Two people died, one person sustained
serious wounds and a number of buses and taxis were burned or
damaged.

As common as the initial cause of the ruckus may be, Jakartans
should consider themselves lucky that the incident did not
escalate into an altogether more serious confrontation. As recent
experience in Ambon, Maluku, has shown, it only takes the
smallest of disturbances to set off a chain of death and
destruction that could have serious long-term consequences for
the nation.

The catalyst for many of the recent outbreaks of mass violence
in Indonesia has been an explosive cocktail of religious, racial
and ethnic discord, resentment and rivalry. This combination
provides the perfect stomping group for troublemakers and
provocateurs seeking to agitate the populace and start riots on a
grand scale.

Jakarta is an ethnic and racial melting pot par excellence
which brings together peoples of different beliefs, values and
prejudices. The authorities must therefore be commended for
containing the Kampung Rambutan incident and preventing clashes
from spreading to other parts of the city.

In this context, we wholeheartedly wish Jakarta Governor
Sutiyoso success in his stated intention of ridding the city's
bus stations and public areas of hoodlums and criminals. There
can be no doubt that doing so would remove a major source of
trouble in Jakarta.

Nevertheless, given the apparent ease with which minor
disagreements can turn into mass rampages these days, the
responsibility of maintaining security cannot be entrusted solely
to the authorities -- no matter how professional or well
respected they may be.

For one thing, the transition toward democracy has left the
authorities bound to act in accordance with the law. This
prevents arbitrariness of action, but it also slows down the
process of enforcing the law.

Furthermore, trouble is not only started by hoodlums and
criminals. Quarrels between neighbors have the same explosive
potential in these troubled times.

It appears that the best, although far from infallible
solution to this quandary would be to actively involve the public
in maintaining law and order. To this end, existing neighborhood
associations could be assigned a more active role in supervising
and monitoring developments on the streets, without, of course,
infringing on people's rights to privacy and freedom of movement.

Although the public is entitled to demand the highest degree
of integrity and professionalism from those in charge of
security, the situation in which we now find ourselves is such
that each and every citizen must be willing to assume
responsibility for preserving peace and upholding the law.
Violence benefits no one.