The Purbalingga incident

The Purbalingga incident

Yet another time bomb left by the New Order regime has
exploded. On Friday last week, the thus far little known town of
Purbalingga in the Banyumas regency of Central Java created an
uproar.

Bands of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), attacked the entourage of Golkar Party
chairman Akbar Tandjung, who was planning to hold a party rally
there. Golkar supporters were chased. Akbar escaped unhurt
although the windows of his car were smashed.

How are we to judge this case? Violence is violence, whatever
its motive, and is highly to be regretted. However, let us all in
gentleman-like fashion open our "book" of the past -- a book
filled with the disheartening annotations of an avaricious
regime.

At that time, our people were never taught to accept
differences. Political education was unknown and only one
expression was understood: uniformity. There was no place for
differences. To differ meant to be an enemy.

But no historical fact stands in isolation. Always, one event
is somehow correlated to another. Violence leads to more violence
and repression leads to counterrepression.

Only those who are able to learn from the bitter lessons of
history can escape this cycle of retaliation. It would be sad if
the Purbalingga incident were to impair the image of PDI
Perjuangan, the party that owes much of its growth to the
repression it suffered in the past. On the other hand, Golkar
cannot hope to claim to be gaining in strength because it is
being reviled. An honest explanation must be found for why it is
being disparaged.

The violence in Purbalingga must not be seen simply as an act
of brutality committed by PDI Perjuangan against Golkar. Rather,
it was an outpouring of pent-up rage by people who have, for so
long, been searching in vain for justice and who are now
witnessing how the old symbols of repression are still displaying
their arrogance.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta