The mystery must be solved
What on earth is going on in Banyuwangi? Although this question still begs to be answered, the facts seem simple enough. Official police reports say that more than 100 people have been mysteriously murdered to date by death squads of masked men prowling the countryside at night in this far corner of East Java. But although all the murder victims appear to have been local Moslem religious teachers and leaders, the authorities seem to be as much in the dark as the area's residents as to the motive for the killings.
Oddly enough, even though police reports speculate that those being targeted are "black magic" practitioners, many of the victims were in reality religious leaders affiliated to the mass- based traditional Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Rather unusually, the national media did not start reporting on the murders until after scores of victims had already fallen.
Given the identity and social position of most of those killed, it is really not at all surprising that officials initially cast their suspicion on remnants of the now outlawed communist movement. After all, hundreds or even thousands of communists and suspected communists were killed in the area in the aftermath of the 1965 communist coup attempt by either military or civilian death squads. What could be simpler than to assume that the present spate of murders are revenge killings committed by descendants of those killed?
Such a conjecture, however, has been dismissed by Abdurrahman Wahid, the highly respected leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama organization in Jakarta. He has argued that any surviving communists would be too old and frail to conduct or even organize such a killing spree, while their descendants are of a new generation of Indonesians to whom communism is an alien ideology.
Amid public bewilderment over the case, the official line the authorities are for now adopting seems to be that the killings are "purely criminal" in nature. But while this may be to a certain degree reassuring -- the absence of political motives should reduce the possibility of political repercussions -- it still begs the main question: What actually is going on in Banyuwangi?
In the meantime, new victims continue to fall. During Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, four more people were killed in their respective homes in three separate districts in the area, their mutilated bodies dumped in their yards. Two other people in a neighboring district managed to escape murder attempts because they were forewarned by neighbors. Cases of similar killings are meanwhile being reported from other districts in the area.
Not surprisingly, all this has caused considerable fear and apprehension among the area's residents. The killings are also raising fears in other parts of the country of unwanted consequences for the nation, especially if suspicions of political motives prove to be correct. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and other independent aid organizations have criticized the government for having been slow to react. The killings, after all, reportedly began as early as July, only to escalate in recent weeks and months.
Fortunately, government leaders and legislators have of late begun to display a greater sense of urgency in trying to end the killings and solve the mystery. Fact-finding teams are being dispatched to the area, possible victims are being sheltered and suspects are being held and questioned. Providing adequate protection to the area's local residents is a most commendable first step to take in this complex mystery drama.
It is of no less importance, however, that the mystery be solved and revealed to the public -- honestly and transparently -- so that any mutual suspicions that may exist among the people of the area may be dispelled.