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