Hopeful, but not enough
From the strife-torn eastern Indonesian province of Maluku has come encouraging news. National religious leaders representing two of this country's biggest Muslim mass-based organizations as well as the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches of Indonesia told this newspaper that hopes for long-lasting peace after three years of deadly conflict are currently high in the province. The 11 leaders returned to Jakarta on Wednesday after a two-day visit to the Maluku provincial capital of Ambon to bolster the peace deal between the warring Christian and Muslim factions, reached in the South Sulawesi hill station of Malino in February.
That this is more than a political gesture and that the leaders are sincerely concerned with the situation in Maluku is well reflected by the mission's composition. The 11 leaders included Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the nation's biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU); Goodwill Zubir, secretary- general of Muhammadiyah Islamic organization; noted Muslim intellectual Solahuddin Wahid; Indonesian Bishop's Conference (KWI) spokesman, the Rev. Ismartono; Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) leader A.A. Yemangoe, and Ministry of Religious Affairs secretary-general Faisal Ismail.
The information which the 11 leaders brought back to Jakarta from Ambon, was actually neither sensational nor unexpected. The people of Maluku are sick and tired of waging a war of unclear goals. Therefore, the chances for enduring peace are very good, NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi told the press on his return on Wednesday. This is also the reason, according to Hasyim, why the parties who objected to the Malino deal are increasingly losing support from their own compatriots as many of them have begun to side with the majority pro-accord groups.
All this of course is hardly news. The euphoria that was expressed by thousands of people in the city of Ambon recently to celebrate the rediscovered peace makes it abundantly clear that the people of Maluku have had more than enough of bloody warfare and violence in a region that for many decades had been a showcase of peaceful living and harmony. So does the calm restraint displayed by the overwhelming majority of Ambon's populace to the bombing on April 3 and the subsequent burning of the governor's offices.
And yet, those two incidents also make it amply clear that lasting peace in Maluku still cannot be taken for granted. Sharp and potentially divisive differences still exist. Since the issue of religion is generally perceived -- though not necessarily rightly so -- to be at the core of the years of conflict in Maluku, the visit this week of Jakarta's most prominent religious leaders certainly will facilitate the peace efforts. Still, three years of never-ending conflict under the banner of religion have given rise to complications that are not easily solved. Religious sentiments easily aggravate normally common rivalries and people's sense of justice is easily hurt. Religious sensitivities are easily inflamed.
Under such circumstances, enduring peace is only possible if the law is properly and impartially enforced; though caution should be exercised. The government's promise to take stern action against the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) groups, for example, while justifiable, could trigger suspicions that the government is taking the side of the Muslims unless it is seen that real justice is being done. For this reason, priority must be given to the rehabilitation of the judiciary, which at present is virtually nonexistent. Similarly, the impartiality of the police and the military in the conflict that has claimed an estimated 6,000 lives and has lead half a million people to flee the area and become refugees, must be guaranteed.
It goes without saying that the task at hand is formidable. But unless it is undertaken and a beginning made without delay, all the achievements that have been scored so far to bring back lasting peace to these once-idyllic islands could well be in vain.