Water hyacinth-type leaders
The water hyacinth is a plant that floats on water, with its roots never reaching the soil.
Our present-day "leaders" are just like this water plant. They may be state officials, apparatuses or community figures. Only because they often get exposure through the mass media do they seem to make weighty statements and have a great number of followers. They don't, in fact.
They profess to be loved by the people and are close to them. They often act on behalf of the people, while in fact the people have no relationship with them because in many respects the people's aspirations have never been channeled through them.
In general, they have few followers and are not rooted in the masses. That's why they are not quite sensitive to problems encountered by the people. Evidence of this is the emergence of a number of "adverse" incidents recently.
Community members previously hoped that after national figures, including religious figures, sat together, conflicts triggered by ethnicity, religion, racial origin and social grouping, particularly those involving followers of different religions, would no longer occur. In reality, however, such conflicts keep occurring one after another.
After the incidents in Ketapang and Kupang, a similar incident, triggered by ethnicity, religion, racial origin and social background, happened in Ambon recently. This shameful incident claimed a lot lives and left many others wounded. Before this incident occurred, security apparatuses claimed the situation was securely under control, while both Muslim and Christian leaders said that these two religions lived in harmony.
So what really triggered this incident? Then came a stereotyped accusation: provocateurs are the culprits. Obviously, the scapegoats are these so-called provocateurs. However, as an accusation like this has been too often leveled without any thorough exposure, the community finds it difficult to buy.
Things get worse in this respect because the information ministry has failed to provide the community with correct information about what has really happened or is really happening. As a result, the community tries to find other figures who are expected to be able to give adequate information about the ongoing crisis. These figures include psychics, who often make statements that contradict religious teachings. Who is to blame, then?
H. IFRAD SUKAMTO
Jakarta