Provocateurs repent!
Provocateurs repent!
From Republika
The riot in Ambon has not completely died down. Minor clashes have continued to break out and could always degenerate into major clashes unless security personnel and the community remain alert to prevent the possibility of fresh riots. While the riot in Ambon is dying down, a large-scale riot has flared up in Sambas, West Kalimantan. Reportedly, the main cause of the riot is an interethnic dispute. Now Sambas, famous for its mandarin oranges, is virtually a dead city.
Obviously we fear that riots like these will spread to other cities, particularly those where ethnicity and religion are sensitive matters. Therefore, all citizens of the nation who feel responsible for national unity must always take precautions to help prevent fresh riots. In the context of all these riots -- reportedly triggered by provocateurs who wish to see this nation disintegrate -- allow me to call on the nation to support the Armed Forces and the government in solving the problems we are now encountering so we do not fall into a deeper abyss. Allow me, in particular, to call on provocateurs and rioters to contemplate the following:
- Are you aware that so many innocent children have lost their parents? Do you really have the heart to see very young babies miss the warm embraces of their mothers or children miss the love of their parents as a result of the riots which have rocked this country? Do you really have the heart to see thousands of innocent refugees live in piteous conditions?
- Isn't your heart touched by the sight of emaciated people lying weakly in beds waiting for someone to lend a helping hand and buy them medicine because they have lost all their belongings in the riots? Do you really have the heart to see children run around at refugee centers and shed tears upon seeing other children go to school? Has it ever crossed your mind that when you savor delicious food at home, undernourished people are dying at refugee centers as a result of what you have done?
It is now the most opportune time for you to repent. God is forgiving and His forgiveness exceeds our sins. If you realize your mistakes and repent, this country will return to normal. It will again be united as the unitary Republic of Indonesia as it moves toward the general election, considered a feast of democracy, this coming June.
H. NANA RUKMANA
Tangerang, West Java