Government is maintaining public fear: Ignas
Government is maintaining public fear: Ignas
JAKARTA (JP): The government is preserving public fear by
leaving many cases of violence over the past year unsettled,
observers charged on Tuesday.
In a discussion on perception of peace, renowned sociologist
Ignas Kleden and noted playwright Ratna Sarumpaet said concerted
social efforts were needed to press the government to solve the
cases.
"There must be signs that they are being seriously solved,"
Ignas said in the talks organized here by The Jakarta Post and
D&R weekly.
"Handling of violence that harms public interests is slow, but
when it is concerned harmful to the state and government's
safety, the handling is fast," Ignas said, citing students'
arrests. Many have been arrested in demonstrations, among others
on the grounds that they did not notify police in line with the
1998 law on freedom of expression.
Ratna had questioned the degree of solidarity in society in
advocating for a thorough solution to all the violence that broke
out over the past year.
"Has our solidarity gone? ... Have we ever pressed (Minister
of Defense and Security/Military Commander) Gen. Wiranto to
explain to us who he meant by provocateurs or radicals that seek
to ruin the nation?" she asked.
"It's not enough just to campaign for peace ... but do we have
the courage (to make the pressure)?" Ratna said.
She has repeatedly staged her plays on the late labor activist
from East Java, Marsinah, who was killed in 1993. The case
remains unsolved.
Tuesday's discussion followed a presentation last week of a
survey on the perception of peace among 1,413 respondents in
seven large cities. Surveyors said its conclusions defied
assumptions of a "sick society," often cited to explain rampant
violence, and that respondents pointed to the responsibility of
the government in resuming security.
Over the past months, reports of violence -- almost all of
which the military blamed on the anonymous provocateurs -- have
poured in from across the archipelago.
Among unsettled cases are the shooting of students on May 12
at Trisakti University, to be commemorated Wednesday, and the
shooting of students at the Semanggi cloverleaf last November.
Mysterious killings of "black magic practitioners," religious
leaders and their alleged killers which occurred mainly in East
Java and similar reports from West Java's Ciamis regency last
month added to the list of scores of unsettled cases.
President B.J. Habibie has blamed a conspiracy including
leaders of "communists" and "socialists" for inciting riots
across the country in attempts to topple his government.
Hypocrisy
Recent reports said many citizens -- mostly Chinese-
Indonesians -- were fleeing the country, in search of peace in
neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.
A participant in the talks, Tesa, a Chinese-Indonesian, asked
why things seemed "safer" under the reign of former president
Soeharto.
"Yes, our differences were covered under a closed lid but we
were in peace ... so must we be a hypocrite to achieve peace?"
she asked.
Ignas said that peace alone was not enough in a political
system as justice would also be needed.
He cited rampant collusion, corruption and nepotism.
"I agree that peace which conceals justice is hypocrisy, and
justice without peace is violence," he said. (aan)