Vincent Lingga - Opinion Column

The week in review: Deadly intolerance

Vincent Lingga, The Jakarta Post | Editorial | Sun, September 02 2012, 10:20 AM

A- A A+

Paper Edition | Page: 4

The Idul Fitri celebrations are supposed to be a week of mutual forgiveness and social reconciliation, but brutal attacks last Sunday claimed the lives of two members of a Shiite community, damaged dozens of houses and forced hundreds of people to flee and live in fear in Sampang on East Java’s Madura island, adding further evidence to claims that Indonesia is in danger of becoming a failed state.

It was quite ironic that the government seemed to only sit idly and watch violence against minorities continue, casting doubt over the sustainability of Indonesia’s pluralism.

Yet more tragically, was the blame game that soon followed the violence. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono blamed the intelligence community for its failure to detect the assault and criticized law enforcement for its weakness. Lawmakers lambasted the police’s inability to prevent such mob violence, while ministers criticized local leaders for their failure to maintain peace between their followers.

In the meantime, the victims now live miserably in makeshift shelters, uncertain about how they will be able to rebuild their homes. But as in most earlier instances of mob, communal and religious violence, the most offensive fact of the matter was the failure of the state and the ignorance of law enforcers to do their duty to protect citizens.

What made Sunday’s violence more absurd was that only last December, the same Shiite community in Sampang was brutally attacked, and while the perpetrator of the attack was eventually sentenced to three months in jail, the leader of the Shiite community was convicted on charges of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison.

In fact, human rights activist Usman Hamid quoted victims who confirmed that last Sunday’s attackers were the same people responsible for the violence last December.

Sadly, this is not the first instance of a weak government response to those who commit violence under the pretext of religious values and beliefs. We may still clearly remember the widely-shown video footage of the ruthless killing of three Ahmadiyah members at Cikeusik, Banten province, in February 2011. The killers were each only sentenced to between three and six months in jail, while Deden Sudjana, the Ahmadiyah security coordinator who almost lost his hand in the attack, was failed for six months for inciting the violence.

The recurrence of such an incident points to a darker context beyond weak leadership, widespread indifference to and the protection of minorities.

In another tragically strange move that may lead to further discrimination against Shia followers in Sampang, the government is considering a plan to relocate the group, saying that the move could prevent future attacks from the majority Sunni community.

It may not be an exaggeration to say that Indonesia’s pluralism is now facing a serious threat. The intrusion of radical ideologies has polarized and segregated society, as also evident in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections, where several prominent public figures have openly attacked candidates on the basis of religion and ethnicity.

The National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Thursday that as many as 70 members of the Shiite community in Sampang were still missing and dozens of people were still hiding in the surrounding jungle.

Some 340 Shiites seeking refuge at Sampang Wijaya’s Kusuma Stadium were living in squalid conditions, packed like sardines, with poor sanitation and food, the commission added.

***

In another outburst of violence, one man was killed and another was left in a critical condition after a gangland brawl erupted over a disputed plot of land in West Jakarta on Wednesday. The conflict broke out as a group of men attempted to enter a plot of land and lay claim to it, setting off a clash with the gang entrusted to guard the plot. After a negotiated settlement fell apart, police officers shot two men who attempted to evade police capture as they raided the area.

The West Jakarta Police said 98 of more than 104 gang members arrested had been declared suspects.

***

Returning from their Idul Fitri vacation, House of Representatives lawmakers failed to live up to the basic value of the Islamic holiday and reform bad habits. Low turnout marked the first plenary session after a long recess on Wednesday, with only 315 out of 560 lawmakers in attendance. Prevalent absenteeism, which has come to characterize members of the House, was ironically clear as they celebrated the 67th anniversary of the legislative body.

So many times, the honorable, well-paid lawmakers have come under fire for their acute absenteeism, which has slowed the legislative process to a sluggish pace, but the criticism, if not chastisement, always falls on deaf ears.

The House also sparked a controversy this week with its deliberate procrastination in selecting new members of the Komnas HAM. The House’s failure to arrange candidate interviews as part of the selection process has forced the President to extend the term of office of the current commissioners. It may be premature to conclude that the House lacks a commitment to human rights, but its silence on a series of rights abuses plaguing the country recently says otherwise.

However, lawmakers deserve credit for unanimously passing the bill on the special status of Yogyakarta on Thursday. The endorsement marked an end to 11 years of uncertainty and polemics that soured ties between Jakarta and the sultanate city.

The bill reaffirms the role of the sultan as both the guardian of local culture and the governor without having to undergo the long, acrimonious and expensive process of running for office. The sultan’s eligibility to govern, however, must be verified by the provincial legislative council to uphold a system of checks and balances.