Lessons from Kalimantan

Lessons from Kalimantan

For several decades, Indonesia has prided itself on its
ability to forge unity among its people from diverse ethnic,
cultural and religious backgrounds. Pluralism, far from dividing
the country, has been the nation's strength. But the escalating
ethnic violence in West Kalimantan in the past few weeks, between
the local Dayak people and migrants from Madura Island, requires
us to take another look at some of the assumptions we have held
about our ability to live together as a nation.

Enmity has existed between the two ethnic groups for a long
time. But that they have harbored such deep-seated hatred, shown
by the way they have been killing one another, has taken many
people, even the authorities, by surprise. It shows our failure
to detect the potential for violent conflict in that part of the
archipelago. And it also shows that we have been taking our unity
for granted for too long.

The West Kalimantan conflict is different from other ethnic
clashes our country has seen in recent months, or years. The
sporadic violence between the indigenous people and the minority
ethnic Chinese in a number of towns in the past few years has
been attributed to social rather than cultural or religious gaps,
due to a wealth disparity between the two groups. The solution is
clear: narrow the income disparity, which is exactly what the
government's national development program has been attempting to
do.

In the case of Kalimantan, such an approach will not work
because both the Dayaks and the migrants from Madura are among
poor and deprived groups in society. The conflict between them
was likely the result of a clash of two cultures, more than any
other factor. Unfortunately, there are no simple or shortcut
solutions. In the context of nation building, forging harmony
between different ethnic and cultural groups is a long and
arduous process.

We praise the military and the authorities for their attempt
to restore order and mediate between the two conflicting groups
in West Kalimantan. They now have the unenviable task of
mediating between two apparently very bitter adversaries. The
peace pledge the Dayak and Madurese tribal leaders made, along
with other ethnic groups in West Kalimantan, on Feb. 18 in front
of local government and military leaders, was broken on the same
day. This shows either their lack of commitment to peace, or
their inability to influence their people. Either way, the result
has been disastrous because the killing has continued. At some
stage, we believe the military, which has maintained neutrality
in the conflict and was deployed chiefly to keep the two groups
separate, must take firm action to end the senseless carnage.

Although we are guilty of taking unity for granted, some
officials have continued to make precisely the same error. Their
pronouncements that the conflict had been resolved and that peace
had been restored, even as the killings were taking place, is not
helping the situation. That action amounts to sweeping the
problem under the carpet -- something we have been doing these
past few decades -- hoping that it will resolve itself
eventually.

If there is one important lesson that the Dayak-Madura
conflict in West Kalimantan has taught us, it is that we should
acknowledge the problem first and foremost, and then work out a
solution. Dismissing it simply keeps the problem under a tight
lid, which could explode later with more devastation.

The West Kalimantan affair has shown that 52 years since our
founding fathers pronounced our independence, we still have
plenty of work to do when it comes to character and nation
building. We need to work harder to achieve our ideals as stated
in the state motto "Unity in Diversity". Forging unity is a long
and difficult process, but if we keep taking it for granted, we
risk the possibility of new conflicts elsewhere in the country.