Killers among us
If nine months of relative peace after the Bali catastrophe have allowed Indonesians to lapse into a false sense of security, then the events of the past few days should take them firmly back to reality: the terrorist game is far from over here. If nothing else, the two successive bomb blasts that ripped through the House of Representatives building on Monday should be reminder enough that even a few moments of laxity could have some dire consequences.
In Monday's incident, it was fortunate that only a bit of damage was inflicted on the building and no one was hurt, the national legislature having gone into recess. The incident, however, brings to light the inadequate security systems that prevail, even at the Indonesian national legislature, which is supposed to be one of the most tightly guarded non-military venues in the country, it being a frequent target of noisy and sometimes violent street demonstrations.
And it could have been worse. Police officers said over the weekend that they had arrested nine suspected members of the Jamaah Islamiah (JI) regional terrorist organization, which investigators are holding responsible for last year's Bali bombings. The arrests, they said, took place in a number of cities, including Jakarta and Magelang, in Central Java. One of the key suspects, known as Ikhwanuddin, was reported to have committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest when he was about to be questioned while in police custody.
In a related raid in the Central Java capital of Semarang, officers said they had found and seized more than 1,000 bomb detonators, almost a ton of potassium chlorate, 350 pounds (160 kg) of TNT, 65 PETN high-explosive detonators, 11 shoulder- launched rockets, more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, two M-16 assault rifles, timers as well as maps and documents from the safehouses of the plotters. Part of that material was taken by Ikhwanuddin to Jakarta, where the plotters had planned to launch a number of bomb attacks on public places such as shopping malls and possibly churches. They apparently had also planned to assassinate a number of politicians, among them Roy B.B. Janis, Pramono Anung, Jacob Tobing and J.E. Sahetapy -- all from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) as well as a businessman named Ciputra.
At least those are the things that the police have chosen to make public so far. But what to make of it all? The list of materials seized by the officers and the names that were reportedly contained on their "hit list" are certainly enough to create some alarm among those allegedly targeted for assassination. All of these developments certainly justify the terror alert that was issued over the weekend by the National Police Chief, Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, especially for the residents of big cities like Jakarta and Semarang, who would be wise to heed the good general's warning seriously.
However, as we all know that one of the main purposes of terrorism is to destabilize society by striking fear and panic into the hearts of the population at large -- by attacking "soft targets" if necessary -- people living elsewhere had better heed Gen. Bachtiar's warning as well, especially those living or staying in towns and cities visited by foreigners, such as Yogyakarta, Bandung and Medan.
It must be said that for some reason or another many Indonesians tend to disregard statements and warnings that are issued by officialdom. It pays to bear in mind, however, that there are parties out there who do not feel so kindly towards the present secular-nationalist dominated regime of President Megawati Soekarnoputri -- or towards the military, for that matter -- with whom the Free Aceh Movement is currently at war.
All in all, Indonesians should feel free to think of the terrorist warnings as they see fit. Nevertheless, for the sake of their own safety and for the well-being of their families and their communities, wisdom dictates that they not dismiss those warnings, and that they alert the authorities whenever they witness any suspicious goings on taking place in their neighborhoods, like people unloading a ton of chemicals into a recently rented house. The price of apathy in this matter could well be another Bali tragedy taking place elsewhere in this country.