Observer blames recent riots on social discontent

Observer blames recent riots on social discontent

JAKARTA (JP): The recent wave of riots has taught the nation
that it is dangerous to underestimate social discontent stemming
from state policies, Father Franz Magnis-Suseno said yesterday.

Magnis-Suseno said the government's support for last year's
removal of Megawati Soekarnoputri from the Indonesian Democratic
Party's helm was one of several unpopular policies.

Magnis-Suseno of Jakarta's Driyarkara School of Philosophy
said this policy was a good example of the government upsetting
the community.

Arbitrary treatment of criminals and evictions of the poor to
make way for development was a common cause of social
dissatisfaction that could lead to violence, he said.

"These have been the non-religious factors which have caused
the riots all this time... They have angered not only Moslems,
but also Catholics, Protestants... for it has something to do
with social justice," Magnis-Suseno told a discussion on riots in
religious society held by the Communion of Churches' youth
commission.

He said that growing social disparity had been another cause
of the riots.

"The gap isn't poverty but rather the frustration of people
who feel the have worked hard but earn much less than those who
are well connected with the power holders," he said.

He cited the building of luxurious houses and the construction
of golf courses as among people's grievances over unfair
development.

Unless these problems were properly addressed, more riots were
likely, he said.

There were different motives for the many riots that had
broken out across the country, Magnis-Suseno said.

In Java, the riots involved Moslems. But in East Timor,
Catholics had turned violent and burned Protestant churches and
mosques in 1995, Magnis-Suseno said.

Riots, in which places of worship were targeted at random,
could have been caused by social injustice.

"In West Kalimantan the riots were purely based on ethnic
divides, because no religious places were ransacked or burned."

Earlier this year, indigenous Dayaks and Madurese migrants
clashed in West Kalimantan. Hundreds of people are believed to
have been killed.

"The riots in Situbondo (East Java) and Tasikmalaya (West
Java) were different in that places of worship were burned down
systematically." he said.

"We've witnessed a systematic and brutal destruction of
religious places in the latest development which has never
happened before... It is possible that they were engineered,"
Magnis-Suseno said.

Magnis-Suseno said he was bewildered by the government's many
statements about who was behind the riots, yet the results of its
investigations had not been released.

The best way to prevent more religious violence, he said,
would be for religious leaders to work closely together to
promote tolerance.

Syaid Aqil of the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem
organization said many riots involved Moslems because many
Moslems had not learned the true meaning of Islam.

Aqil urged all preachers not to discredit other religions in
their sermons.

"One should learn that religiosity is more important than just
adoring religious symbols," he said. (aan)