Violence is a part of complex urban life

JAKARTA (JP): The conflagration, when it came, did not really come unexpected. After all, as U.S. President Nixon said in the wake of the 1970 shooting at Ohio's Kent State University, "when dissent turns into violence it invites tragedy". The build-up had openly been going on for weeks before it finally erupted into violence.

The massive riots that were triggered by the forceful take- over of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in Jakarta during the weekend of July 27 left the nation in a state of shock. Vehicles and buildings went up in flames as mobs swept through the streets around the neighborhood. The riots, according to official accounts, left two people dead and 26 injured, 34 buildings -- including seven banks were badly damaged and 91 vehicles destroyed. As of this weekend, around 200 people were still being held by the authorities for questioning. Days later, numerous shops were still closed and security around the city remained heavy.

The riots have been described as the worst in two decades to have swept Jakarta, a city that is no stranger to trouble. Before the country gained independence, serious disturbances occurred in the capital. The most infamous was the "Chinese massacre" in which troops from the Dutch East India Company hauled Chinese "troublemakers" from their homes to be murdered in the streets of 19th century Batavia.

More recently, two major upheavals in particular will remain locked in the memory of Jakartans. The first followed the 1966 aborted communist coup that led to the birth of the present New Order. The second was the "Malari" incident, when an anti- Japanese demonstration led by university students deteriorated into uncontrolled rioting that left Jakarta's main shopping and business areas paralyzed for days.

No less dramatic and tragic was the 1984 Tanjung Priok riot, which occurred only two years after the incident during the 1982 elections.

Jakartans may well ask themselves if such incidents are the inevitable consequence of living in the capital of a nation on its way to reaching full maturity. Only history can answer this question with certainty. But, as similar incidents in other major cities seem to indicate -- the 1993 workers' riot in Medan, the Timika, Irian Jaya incident last year, the Santa Cruz incident in Dili in 1991 and the 1989 riot in the campus of the Bandung Institute of Technology -- the violence and upheavals may be part of life in any urban center where complex problems exist.

And the problems will persist unless enough wisdom prevails and those involved can reduce the tensions in a way that is satisfactory to all.

-- Hartoyo Pratiknyo