The hijacking of a bus committed by more than 100 senior high
The hijacking of a bus committed by more than 100 senior high school students in East Jakarta last week was a real shock.
In school uniform, the students also robbed the bus passengers of money and other valuables. This brutality took place on Friday, the day they completed their final examination, as though the students wanted to show people that they had reached adulthood. However, the students' actions showed they were still mere children; they would have acted more maturely if they were, indeed, adults.
Some of the students were arrested. We only demand that the police act properly and professionally and that anyone violating the law, including the students, must be punished according to the law.
The incident raises deep concerns once we think about their futures. Competition among high school student graduates are becoming tougher and tougher every year. Given the fact that the rate of unemployment among university graduates is increasing, we cannot imagine what senior high school graduates could do to enter the job market.
Ironically, the graduates do not seem to be aware of, nor concerned about, their own futures. Yet, they conduct a criminal act.
-- Warta Kota, Jakarta
The role of religion in Iraqi politics
The debate on the role of religion in Iraqi politics has been escalating following the return of Shiah leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim from his 23-year exile in Iran.
So far, the Baath Party administration, which is secular, has maintained their distance from religion. The policy was supposed to separate religion from politics, so that religion could not be used as a means to realize political interests, and politics would not be exploited by religion.
The return of Ayatollah Hakim is expected to restore the Shiah's dignity, which started to fade in 1958 when Saddam Hussein was at the peak of his power.
The debate on the role of religion in politics and of power in Iraq has become complicated, because Iraq is a heterogeneous country with a multiracial and multicultural background. This has apparently produced the idea that democracy would be the best system to (re)establish and manage the country.
Ayatollah Hakim has never talked about a religious state, but he has offered a democratic vision based on Islam. He has also insisted that tolerance within a heterogeny like Iraq was very important.
"We want a democratic administration that represents all the Iraqi people -- Muslims, Christians and all minorities," Hakim said.
He has called on the Iraqi people to fight imperialism and expel Americans and the British from Iraq.
-- Kompas, Jakarta
Peace, a priority in Aceh
The May 12 deadline for the reconciliation between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has finally come.
Despite the deadline being part of the government's attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Aceh conflict, there was no change in the attitude of the separatist group.
As the deadline expired, it has become more evident that GAM does not have any good intention to make peace in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province.
When it felt that the peace deal was beginning to fail, the Indonesian government decided to conduct an integrated humanitarian, law enforcement, government stabilization and security restoration operation in Aceh.
To support the operation, some 1,300 security personnel from the Indonesian Defense Force have been dispatched to Aceh.
Such a move indicates that the military operation in Aceh, called by the government as a security restoration operation, is on hand.
Consequently, President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled today (Monday) to make a crucial decision as the legal basis for the integrated operation.
Whatever the decision the president might make, the Indonesian state and its people are still yearning for a peaceful solution in its westernmost province. -- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta