Ichsan Malik fights for peace

Ichsan Malik fights for peace

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ambon city was like a ghost town a year after major sectarian
violence erupted in 1999.

Markets and streets were deserted, ruined buildings could be
seen down nearly every street and the sound of weapons and bombs
could be heard sporadically across the city. Thousands of people
had been killed in the year-long conflict and hundreds of
thousands more displaced.

Ever since, the historical city that was once the thriving,
affluent hub of the spice trade, has been divided into two
distinct sectors.

Muslims on one side and Christians on the other.

Everybody stayed in their respective neighborhoods, armed with
spears, machetes and rifles. Any outsider was met with great
suspicion.

Amid this dangerous situation, back in April 2000, Ichsan
Malik, a lecturer and a humanitarian activist from Bandung, West
Java, visited the riot-torn city, at the invitation of the
Hualopu Foundation.

Ichsan was born on September 6, 1957 in the West Java capital.
He graduated from the school of social psychology at the
University of Indonesia, and is currently teaching psychology at
the university. The father of two children also is the head of
the Titian Perdamaian Institute, a non-governmental organization
(NGO) that focuses on promoting peace nationwide.

Upon his arrival in tense Ambon, the devout Muslim soon became
involved in intense discussions with Christians in the foundation
on the measures that should be taken to stop the ongoing
bloodshed between Muslims and Christians in Maluku.

Ichsan, as a Muslim and a non-Maluku resident, also visited
other groups of intellectuals and NGOs in the city, both Muslim
and Christian, to hold similar discussions.

He recalled later that the toughest visit was to Saparua
Island near Ambon, where most of the residents are fundamentalist
Christians. It was, to say the least, a very courageous move for
a Muslim to stroll down the streets in Saparua.

Ichsan, did meet strong resistance when he held a meeting with
Saparua leaders, including the church leaders. In a meeting in
one church, three of 10 pastors became angry during the meeting,
while saying that a peace process was impossible. They slammed
the door and abandoned the meeting.

"How can we rely on a newcomer, and moreover a Muslim?" Ichsan
quoted them as saying, as he recalled in an article in a book
entitled "Baku Bae (Enough is Enough)."

Despite the pain, he called it the birth of the Baku Bae
movement, one that is spurring a bottom-up peace process in
Maluku.

After his now historic meetings in 2000, Ichsan and other NGO
activists intensified gatherings and meetings among Ambon Muslim
and Christian leaders, because he saw that the government and
security officials could not do much to stop the bloodshed or
mitigate the hatred.

Ichsan and friends approached key leaders in Maluku to
facilitate a peace process.

After another round of meetings with Muslim and Christian
leaders in Jakarta and Bali, progress was slowly, but surely,
being made as the understanding of the peace process increased.

After much debate and some research, the religious leaders
eventually concluded that the conflicts in Ambon were not created
by local people.

The spirit of the Baku Bae movement was publicly promoted in
from January 2001 onward, with the focus of the campaign on
stopping the violence in Maluku, said Ichsan.

After that, Ichsan and friends from the Baku Bae movement
embarked on a wider campaign. They met government officials, the
President and even went abroad to meet European legislators,
especially in the Netherlands, where a sizable group of Maluku
people have emigrated and stayed for years.

"But, we had to pay the price, because some of the warring
groups in Maluku could not accept our movement. Stones were
hurled at the houses of Baku Bae activists; others received death
threats so that they had to hide for a while. But, we have
unfurled the sail. We have arrived at a point of no return," said
Ichsan.

The movement might not be effective in many cases, but it,
along with the government brokered pace pact in Malino, South
Sulawesi in 2001, has contributed to the relative peace in Maluku
today, he said.

Despite all the pain and hard work, Ichsan recalled that his
involvement in the movement was personally and intellectually
rewarding.

"I have read many books on conflict resolution. But, when I
first went to Ambon and took part in resolving conflicts there, I
felt like I knew nothing. The actual situation was very different
from what it says in the textbooks," he said.

His long involvement in the Maluku conflict has also raised a
new awareness within him. "Law enforcement is hard to achieve,
because the security forces and government take sides in the
conflict. People do not trust them. There are no public leaders
that people can trust to mediate the conflict, like Nelson
Mandela in Africa. In the absence of these ingredients for
conflict resolution, people have to take their own initiatives
for peace," said Ichsan.

In this light, Ichsan introduced a new concept in conflict
resolution, known as Tali Air (water conduits). The concept
starts from an understanding that every society is bestowed with
local wisdom. This wisdom is akin to the water spring that,
through the help of water conduits, in this case roots, supports
the life of grass (harmony) on the surface.

Conflicts may burn the grass down, but grass will always
regrow, thanks to the help of the water conduits that hold and
distribute water to the grass and trees above.

"We continuously work to enhance capacity-building of the Tali
Air -- the intellectuals, youth leaders and others -- so that
they can help promote peace and make the grass regrow, regardless
of how much fire has burned the grass," said Ichsan.

Learning from the Maluku experience, Ichsan is trying to
extend peace to other regions. He has established a civilian
peacekeeping team that will help "the grass regrow" not only in
Maluku, but across the nation.

"Indonesia is a heterogeneous country and prone to communal
conflicts. We have to contribute something to peace in the
country.

"If not us, who will?" said Ichsan.