Tasikmalaya incident

Tasikmalaya incident

I was startled when I received a phone call from my brother
saying that something terrible was happening in Tasikmalaya. He
did not reveal what was happening but suggested I watch the
evening news broadcast on RCTI or SCTV. Unfortunately RCTI's
information was not very clear, and SCTV only gave me a glance of
the situation in Tasikmalaya.

Everybody was aware of the cause of the riot but nobody was
sure what had motivated the incident. I do not wish to follow
social and political observers who say "this must be masterminded
or engineered by a third party" but cannot establish who the
third party is.

Similar to other riots in Medan, Ujung Pandang, Purwakarta and
Situbondo, the riot in Tasikmalaya is not a criminal problem, but
a social one.

Thirty-three years ago a similar riot occurred in Tasikmalaya.
I was in the second grade of senior high school when the incident
broke out. We took to the streets and joined the mob, making
arbitrary attacks on certain targets.

The riot seemed to be triggered by social jealousy resulting
from the social and economic gap between the indigenous and non-
indigenous people. Needless to say, many irresponsible people
took advantage of the situation and committed crimes for their
own benefit.

The conduct of some members of the police force during the
riot tarnished the image of the police. It is now up to them to
restore their good reputation.

I believe dissatisfaction, frustration and social jealousy
caused the tragedy. I agree with House Speaker Wahono who said it
was premature to blame a third party for the breakout of the
riot, and I also hail Attorney General Singgih for suggesting
that the incident should make us more introspective.

MASLUH KARTAMIHARDJA

Jakarta