Generalizations about Madurese incorrect

JAKARTA (JP): To Amir Santoso, a Madurese academic living in Jakarta, most accusations being made by Dayaks against their former neighbors in Central Kalimantan simply make no sense.

The claims of rudeness, of longstanding violent behavior, and of failing to adapt to Dayak culture were all undermined by the simple fact that many Madurese had been living in Sampit for up to four generations.

"I acknowledge that there are some criminals among the Madurese, just as there are in other communities," said Amir, a member of the Indonesian Humane Foundation set up to help victims of Sampit.

"But I cannot accept the opinion that all the Madurese are criminals. Generalization is always wrong.

"If they are all criminals, why were they able to stay there for such a long time?"

The same applied to accusations that Madurese in Sampit were rude or aggressive.

"How can they say that when they had been living in Kalimantan for years, for three generations or four generations?"

Many of the Madurese in Central Kalimantan "were born there and do not know about Madura. Many also have no family in Madura".

Claims that the Madurese did not assimilate with Dayak culture were nonsense when considering that many had Dayak husbands or wives, Amir, a professor at the University of Indonesia, said.

Asked why immigrants from South Kalimantan and Java sided with the Dayaks in their complaints, Amir said he believed members of the Dayak political elite had curried favor ahead of elections for governor and bupati, or district chief.

He said that some Dayaks, being in a minority in the provincial government, had exploited feelings against the Madurese in efforts to win majority support.

Amir, who lectures in politics, said the laws being proposed to restrict access to Central Kalimantan were discriminatory.

"It seems to me the regulations go too far ...

"If one province makes a discriminatory rule like that, that will be used as a precedent by the other provinces."

Such regulations were also unwieldy and unworkable, and open to being corrupted by officials.

Concerning the Dayaks' demand for an apology for having caused the violence, Amir said: "No, we will refuse. ... No, no, we refuse to do that." (Peter Kerr)