Observers want NGOs, ulemas involved in alert centers

SEMARANG (JP): Religious leaders, academics and non- governmental organizations (NGOs) should be involved in the activities of the proposed "alert command centers", observers said yesterday.

Muladi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, and political scholar Susilo Utomo of Diponegoro University said the alert command post proposal was worth supporting.

Political, social and legal experts and religious leaders should be involved so as not to mislead the public into thinking the institution was exclusively run by the government.

The establishment of alert centers was ordered by President Soeharto in the wake of the religious and racism-sparked riots in East Java, West Java and West Kalimantan late last year.

Countless observers and government officials believe socioeconomic disparity was the root cause of the unrest.

The centers will receive all kinds of reports from the people concerning potential unrest. No specific establishment date was mentioned.

The project, Muladi said, should not create a false impression in the outside world that Indonesia was on the brink of disintegration.

He hoped the proposed alert command post would become the "lowest rung" of the Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability.

"If it's possible, the command centers could carry out the agency's field operations," said Muladi, also rector of Diponegoro University.

Muladi said forming the unrest command post was relevant to Indonesia's post-Cold War era development as countries in eastern Europe have fragmented into small independent nations.

"Therefore the command centers could be critical in safeguarding Indonesia's unity. At present, many people want to see Indonesia break up ," he said.

Muladi said a secondary function of the command centers should be to inform the public about the sort of rumors that could grow and trigger unrest.

Once the centers are set up, there should be no rumors along the lines of the recent ones about "operation green dragon" and "operation red dragon". Operations reportedly set up by the military to topple leaders of organizations critical of the government.

Unconfirmed reports say operation green dragon was designed to dethrone Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama. Operation red dragon was reportedly behind the fall of Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party.

Susilo Utomo proposed that NGOs and ulemas be involved in the proposed alert centers' activities.

"The public tend to trust information from NGOs and ulemas more from the government," he said. "NGOs are becoming a popular place for the oppressed to air their grievances." (har/pan)