Resources, space vital for unity

Resources, space vital for unity

JAKARTA (JP): The survival of Indonesia as a nation depends
greatly on whether all groups of the community, including
indigenous people, have adequate living space and access to
resources, experts concluded yesterday.

Sociologist Loekman Soetrisno, socioeconomic researcher R.
Yando Zakaria and anthropologist Parsudi Suparlan explored
yesterday the question of national integration and interethnic
relations.

They agreed on the importance of "political action", rather
than only political will, when it comes to ensuring that
indigenous people in remote, least-developed regions have access
to and are able to manage their own national resources. An
adequate living space for every group will help reduce potential
for national disintegration, the experts concluded.

"Development policies and the next state guidelines have to
include the rights of the indigenous," said Loekman Soetrisno, a
sociologist from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, to The
Jakarta Post at the ongoing national conference of
anthropologists.

Loekman and Parsudi were responding to the Post's question
about the outbreak of ethnic and sectarian riots that have hit
the country over the past year. Loekman had previously identified
disintegration as the biggest threat facing Indonesia at present.

Loekman cited the tribes in Indonesia's easternmost province,
Irian Jaya, and the Dayak in East and Central Kalimantan
provinces as examples of indigenous people whose access to
social, economic and cultural sectors had been limited.

Late last year, Madurese migrants from East Java and the Dayak
clashed in some West Kalimantan regions, killing hundreds of
people and leaving a trail of destruction in various parts of the
province.

Loekman said the situation should be corrected by ensuring
that the flow of capital investment into the region also helps
local communities thrive.

Yando, who spoke at the conference, said in his paper that the
removal of the indigenous people's rights over land and other
natural resources was at the root of conflicts among tribes.

"The negation of these people's rights could provoke an 'anti-
state' sentiment," he said, citing reports about a Dayak
secession attempt by those who tried to set up a "Free Dayak"
state. He called the attempt a phenomenon of "grassroots
insurgency".

Contrary to what many feared, the recognizing and granting of
indigenous people's rights would not lead to national
disintegration, he said.

He then called for the establishment of customary laws as a
source for national laws. He pointed out that the 1945
Constitution endorses various social groups' rights, but this
recognition had not been translated into lower laws and
directives.

Parsudi offered his own explanation about the process of
disintegration of a nation, which started with the mobilization
of a group and its refusal to recognize a national system.

"A nation is governed by a system, based on the principle of
national culture, which gives birth to various institutions that
rule people's lives," he said.

"Once a group of people is mobilized and... refuses to
recognize the validity of a national system, (the group) creates
a national system of its own," Parsudi said. (09/swe)