Stop the rampage
Stop the rampage
Every thinking person must be appalled by the anarchy -- there
really is no other word for it -- that engulfed much of Jakarta
yesterday. For two days in a row since Wednesday, the day
following the tragic death of four demonstrating students at
Jakarta's Trisakti University, the Indonesian capital has been in
the throes of some of the most ugly rioting, burning and looting
the city has seen in decades. Thursday's riots might well equal,
if not surpass, those of January 1974, which many Jakartans still
remember as the infamous Malari Incident.
In a sense, it may be true to say that it was Tuesday's deadly
shooting incident at Trisakti University in West Jakarta that
sparked the riots of the past two days. What must be clear to
everyone is that the riots have had nothing to do whatsoever with
either the student commemorations mourning their fallen
colleagues or with their ongoing campaign for reform. What
appears to have happened is that non-students have -- either
spontaneously or at the instigation of agents provocateurs for
whatever purpose -- used the momentum that the emotion-laden
situation has provided to spark the riots.
What has precisely happened is something the authorities are
currently in the process of investigating. Whatever it was, now
is the time to call for an immediate stop to the rampage. In the
meantime, we should ask ourselves why people are so easily
incited to commit such acts of violence. Earlier riots, such as
those that rocked Tasikmalaya and other towns across Java a while
ago, have shown that it often takes only the slightest
provocation to move people to riot. And when the frenzy erupts,
it is naturally the most defenseless among us who are the
victims: our own citizens of Chinese ancestry and other minority
groups.
As we and other more learned observers and analysts have often
pointed out, the kind of social equilibrium that we have
maintained for decades has served well enough to preserve
stability -- or at least an appearance of stability. But this was
achieved only by burying feelings of anger, injury or injustice
that have slowly, but surely, been building up in society.
Unfortunately, in the then prevailing environment of relative
prosperity, such well-intended warnings were more often than not
ignored by the authorities concerned.
Under the circumstances, one could be inclined to agree with
those who see the present flare-up of social and political unrest
as a direct consequence -- an explosion as it were -- of those
long pent-up feelings and emotions. Lamentably, it is the most
defenseless groups of our national community that suffer the
heaviest -- a reality that not only threatens our unity and
cohesion as a nation, but is also certain to have adverse
consequences for the economy and our society.
As more of our city's shops are looted or burned, many
commodities, including rice and other basic necessities, that are
already scarce could become even scarcer. As more people are
deprived of food and other necessary goods, public order and
security could worsen with all the obvious consequences that this
brings for most ordinary citizens. The riots of the past couple
of days could also affect the pace of this country's political
development.
If a glimmer of hope can be seen amid all this turmoil, it is
that almost every person of social or political importance in
this country is now agreed that the key to overcoming the crisis
is in bringing about significant reform. Without this, the
problems that have for so many years afflicted our society would
once again be buried, to explode once more at a later time when
conditions are ripe.
Security and order must be restored, but not at the expense of
necessary reform. Our system is simply no longer adequate for
answering the challenges of the new global era.