Gambling doesn't pay off in Ngawi
Tarko Sudiarto, The Jakarta Post, Ngawi
Pardi and Giman are among the lovers of togel, a kind of illegal lottery, in Ngawi, East Java, bordering Central Java. Every night until the end of November, they would gather at a stall at the town's market to try their luck.
Togel gambling didn't just offer Pardi and Giman hope -- most of all, it made both their days and nights livelier.
For Pardi and Giman, togel is part of their daily activities.
And most of the time, it is also unproductive.
"Pardi, Giman ... instead of expecting too much from togel which is uncertain, you'd better find yourselves a more serious job to feed your wife and children. That's surely more important and logical because you are the backbones of your families," one of their friends advises the two.
That is an excerpt of a conversation taken from the Obrolan Warung Kopi (Coffee Shop Chatting) column in the local tabloid Suara Trinil (The Voice of Trinil), in its third edition issued in November, 2001.
The tabloid, which takes its name from a location in Ngawi regency on the banks of the Solo river where the fossils of the oldest Java Men were found, ran a report about togel lotteries in this small town.
It is not clear, however, if it was this report that prompted the Ngawi Muslims Forum (FUIN) to launch a sudden operation against togel gambling venues in the town, especially in the main market on the night of Nov. 29.
Groups of FUIN members dressed in white leapt from three trucks and attacked people in the Ngawi market, seizing six whom they believed to be togel operators before handing them over to a nearby police station.
It was at that point that the tension in the otherwise peaceful and tranquil town began to rise.
FUIN's decision to take the law into its own hands angered many of the town's residents, particularly those belonging to the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), as the six men handed over to police were all PDI-P members.
The next morning, the tension heightened, as a crowd gathered in front of the Ngawi police precinct demanding the release of the six men.
When the police refused, the crowd headed for the FUIN office on the town's main road Jl. Ahmad Yani, which is actually a shop house belonging to FUIN leader Muhyi Effendi and also serves as the local headquarters of the Laskar Jihad or Jihad Force.
Members of the crowd then vented their anger by ransacking the office.
Militant FUIN members retaliated on Saturday morning by targeting the home of local PDI Perjuangan chairman Yuwono Susatyo, whom they accused of masterminding Friday's attack on Muhyi's home and also of backing the gambling industry in Ngawi.
"I was going to the mosque across the road for a dawn prayer when someone knocked on the door. Before I had time to open the door, it was forced open. These people rushed into the house, their swords at the ready, looking for my son," said Mrs. Suwarno, Yuwono's mother.
The intruders then reportedly assaulted Yuwono before abducting him.
News of Yuwono's disappearance spread quickly, creating fears of bloody clashes in the town as Laskar Jihad sent reinforcements to Ngawi from various locations in Central Java and Yogyakarta.
Responding to these incidents, the police raided the FUIN office, confiscating 10 home-made bombs, several knives and machetes as well as a handgun and 18 bullets.
The police also arrested more than 100 Laskar Jihad members.
On Monday, the police searched a house being rented by the Laskar Jihad and found more home-made bombs, self-assembled long- barreled guns, machetes, knives, sickles, swords and bayonets.
People were afraid of a recurrence of the chaos that broke out in 1965 in Ngawi, then a base for the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), when thousands of people were killed.
After the incident made national headlines and police moved in, the feared fighting between hardline Laskar Jihad members and PDI Perjuangan supporters failed to materialize.
But uneasiness prevails in Ngawi, especially because Yuwono's whereabouts are still not known.
"Regardless of his poor condition, we would like to see him returned to us, dead or alive. This will be a serious ordeal for our family, given that he is the eldest son with three children. Do they as fellow Muslims have the heart to see our plight?" Yuwono Kartiko, Yuwono's younger brother, asked.
Laskar Jihad", through lawyer Muhammad Mahendra, refused to admit that their members abducted Susatyo. The lawyer told the media that Laskar Jihad members had handed Susatyo over to a local police station, which later released him.
Ngawi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yovianes Mahar denied the statement made by Laskar Jihad, calling it a lie.
"There is not a morsel of truth to it. They are lying when they say that we accepted Susatyo and then released him."
It is, in any case, entirely the police's fault to begin with. It did not care about the widespread togel gambling in the town, and failed to take action when armed gangs began rounding up suspected gamblers.
While the damage has already been done in Ngawi, this incident could act as a salutary lesson for police faced with similar situations in other parts of the country.