West Java town rocked by riot

RENGASDENGKLOK, West Java (JP): Violence jolted this historical subdistrict yesterday when thousands of local youths and residents went on a burning and looting rampage.

No fatalities were reported in the ethnic and sectarian riot caused by a minor conflict between a group of Moslem youths and a woman resident of Chinese descent. However, dozens of houses and places of worship as well as office buildings and vehicles were either damaged or burned.

Chief of West Java Police Maj. Gen. Nana Permana said 76 houses and 72 shops were destroyed by the angry mob. Another 19 cars were damaged and seven other vehicles burned.

The rioters damaged three churches and burned another. Two Buddhist monasteries were also damaged and burned in the violence, Nana said.

The unrest originated from a quarrel between the Chinese woman, called Go Wie or Giok, and a group of youths making noise to wake Moslem residents for the pre-dawn meal (sahur) -- taken before fasting all day -- around 2.30 a.m.

The 49-year-old woman shouted at the youths; a fierce quarrel erupted and, later, stones were hurled by both parties.

Several hours later around 100 youths and other residents gathered and attacked the woman's house. Some officials said the number swelled to around 3,000.

Local security personnel tried to disperse the crowd, forcing the mob to move on, committing violence elsewhere. They reportedly employed "hit and run" tactics, attacking one building, scattering, then attacking another.

The unrest was contained around 2 p.m. after authorities deployed 500 soldiers and 300 policemen.

Nana said it had not been necessary to impose a night curfew on the subdistrict. "This is the fasting month. People need go to mosques in the evening for tadarusan (reading and learning the Holy Koran). How can we prevent them?" he said.

He said 25 people had been detained for questioning. He said he had no information on Giok's whereabouts, although sources said she was already under police protection.

Rengasdengklok is well-known for the important role its people played in the struggle for independence from Japan in 1940s; first president Sukarno and vice president Hatta were brought by a group of young fighters to Rengasdengklok to protect them from the Japanese.

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Moslem scholar Amien Rais called on Indonesian Moslems to restore peace and refrain from violence. "By exercising self restraint, half of the potential unrest in this country would be contained already because of the massive number of Moslems," he said.

He stressed, however, the need for the government to take stock of the country's situation and exert greater effort to narrow the economic disparity he believed was behind both yesterday's unrest and earlier incidents.

"We cannot rule out the possibility this unrest was encouraged by people seeking to disrupt stability so that the May general elections do not proceed as planned," he said.

He also called on leaders still concerned with Indonesia's future to use their common sense and restore calm.

"This is a large-scale problem and we all need graciousness to solve it," he said.

"I stick to my earlier opinion that the unrest stemmed from social frustrations affecting people at the lower levels of society," he said. "They have been so deprived socially and economically they have become like a piece of dry wood, easily set alight."

He said he believed the violence hitting the country recently had been ignited by "a great mastermind."

Separately, Army chief of staff Gen. R. Hartono said a third party had probably been behind the Rengasdengklok riots. He refused to say whether yesterday's violence was linked to riots dating back to October.

"We must take note of the possibility of a third party playing a role here because the rioting was not related to the motives (said to have triggered it)," Hartono said in a breaking of the fast gathering with the Karim Oei Chinese Moslem foundation.

He did not think there was a single mastermind behind the various riots, nor did he think they had occurred for the same reason.

"Our investigation so far has yet to come to that conclusion," he said.

Shockwaves were sent through the country Sunday after violence in Siantan Tengah, West Kalimantan involving the attack of the offices of a social organization that runs Catholic schools. (imn/ahy/01/amd/swe)