Widespread frustation behind riots: Observers
JAKARTA (JP): More observers have offered an explanation for the outburst of violence that has jolted the country over the past two months, with most pinning the blame on widespread frustration and a sense of powerlessness among people.
In Semarang, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said yesterday the riots erupted because people were frustrated with living conditions and felt powerless to stop corruption.
"There were people who felt left behind in development and the increasingly stiff competition. There were people who became rich, and there were people who fell into poverty...They had no power to compete with those of a higher social and economic status. Frustrated with their living condition, they turned to violence and rioting," Tarmizi told reporters after opening a seminar on religion and development at Diponegoro University.
Rioting has rocked Indonesia in the past two years. The most recent riot erupted earlier this month in West Kalimantan when 5,000 Dayak tribesmen, the local indigenous group, burned scores of homes and stores belonging to settlers who had migrated from the Indonesian island of Madura, East Java.
Tarmizi urged fellow senior government officials to help allay people's frustration and prevent unrest by implementing transparent policies and being honest in words and deeds.
He said officials had to be frank and disclose their failures in various projects, and called on the public to be realistic in their demands.
"People of low income should never dream of having a luxurious house and those unwilling to work hard should never think of holding a high position at work," he said.
Scholar Victor Tanja said the recent riots were not caused by religious enmity, but were due to social and economical disparities and legal injustices.
"Unfortunately, social and economic disparities were often abused by certain groups in society and treated as a political weapon in their quest to disrupt national stability," he said.
Victor urged religious leaders to teach their followers religious and social solidarity.
Speaking at a seminar in Munich, Germany, former ambassador to Washington Hasnan Habib said the recent violence was due to a "degradation of ethics".
"People whose understanding of the values of (state ideology) Pancasila is strengthening have begun to realize the improper conduct of people who actually should be public role models," Hasnan was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday.
The resulting disillusionment and frustration has emerged in the form of brutality, he said.
Another speaker at the German-Indonesian dialogue, political analyst Soedjati Djiwandono from the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said people had lost their patience with a legal system that failed to protect them.
He pointed at the Supreme Court, supposedly the people's last bastion for justice, which has been beset by internal problems. Soedjati called for reforms in the worn-out political, economic and education systems.
The dialogue also discussed the Armed Forces (ABRI) socio- political role.
"There have been differences between retired senior figures in the Armed Forces and the current officers, especially on how to exercise the Armed Forces' socio-political function," Hasnan said. "But these differences might have been caused by the fact that the two groups come from different times." (har/imn/35)