JP/2/Swiping

JP/2/Swiping

Students check passing buses for non-Muslims

Jupriadi
The Jakarta Post
Makassar

Amid mounting anti-U.S. sentiment in South Sulawesi, dozens of
students from the Indonesian Muslim University assaulted non-
Muslims in Makassar, protesting the recent burning of an Osama
bin Laden effigy in the predominantly Christian province of North
Sulawesi.

The incident occurred near the campus between 1 p.m. and 3
p.m. when students stopped all public minivans passing the campus
and searched for non-Muslim passengers.

At least four passengers suffered serious injuries after being
severely beaten by the students and were placed in intensive care
at the city's general hospital.

Witnesses said that the students forced non-Muslim passengers
out of minivans they had stopped and then beat them.

A witness, who requested anonymity, said the students checked
passengers' identity cards to determine their religion.

"Christian passengers were pulled out by force and then
severely beaten," he said, adding that the incident attracted
enormous public attention and caused heavy congestion in streets
around the campus.

Another witness said the actions ended only minutes after the
arrival of riot police.

One student, who also requested anonymity, said that the group
carried out the operation as retaliation for the burning of a bin
Laden effigy in Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi, a few days
earlier.

"The action (in North Sulawesi) has broken our hearts and hurt
our feelings," he said.

Last Sunday, thousands of people held a rally in Tondano,
Minahasa regency, to commemorate the 40th days after the
terrorist attack on the United States. During the rally, which
was covered by local media, the people also burned an effigy of
bin Laden in support of the fight against international
terrorism.

Bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian living in Afghanistan, is being
hunted by the United States in relation to the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks in New York and Washington. The U.S.-led strike on
Afghanistan has sparked strong protest among Muslim Indonesians.

Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Amin Saleh expressed grave
concern over the attacks, saying such an incident would never
happen in the city again.

He said that he would hold a meeting with students at the
university to prevent them from conducting such actions in the
future.

Darwis, a sociologist at Hasanuddin University, urged the
police to take strict action against students involved in the
incident as it could set a bad precedent in other places.

"The police must arrest those who committed the beatings
because such brutality is quite intolerable," he said.

According to him, the students' rationale behind the action
had no substance and their action did not represent the views of
local people in the province.