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Putting the Bali bombings into the wider Indonesian
context
by Dr. Mark Durie (*)
WEA (28.10.2002) / HRWF Int. (28.10.2002) Website http://www.hrwf.net - Email info@hrwf.net - In all the discussion of the Bali tragedy this past week, many Australians have searched for a reason why so many innocent people have been killed. Surely such hatred must have some explanation? Could it be something we have done? Was it East Timor? The 'war on Iraq'? Our lifestyle? Our indifference to world poverty?
Strategic goals of islamist organisations
This bomb attack, and others like it, must be understood in terms of the strategic goals and world view of the Islamic terrorist organizations which carry them out. All these groups aim to establish the Islamic shari'a or 'Islamic way' as the law of the land. They oppose existing regimes in Muslim countries, which are rejected as un-Islamic. A second belief they share is that jihad is the best method for bringing this objective about. Countless books, tracts and training schools emphasize these two principles.
"Unity in diversity" under attack
At the time of independence from the Dutch in 1945, calls for Indonesia to become an Islamic state were successfully resisted. The authors of Indonesia's constitution opted instead for pluralism, affirming a diversity of religions including Islam, Christianity,Hinduism and Bhuddism. The national motto is 'Unity in Diversity'.
However during the 1980's President Suharto, to prop up his ailing presidency, began to court Islamic radicals, who rapidly grew in influence. One of the effects of this political shift has been an escalation of attacks on Christian communities in Indonesia. The Barnabas Fund (UK) reported at the end of 2000 that half a million Christians have become internally displaced; more than 5,000 people have been killed; and as many as 7,000 have been forcibly converted to Islam. Local Muslim communities have also experienced great suffering in the violent confrontations.
Churches attacked or destroyed in Indonesia since Independence
Years Churches attacked
1945-1965 2
1966-1975 46
1976-1985 89
1986-1995 104
1996-present Over 500
Source: Indonesian Christian Communications Forum
Aggressive drive for Shari'a
There are renewed calls today for Indonesia to become a shari'a state. However an obstacle to imposition of the shari'a, apart from the many moderate Muslims, is the handful of provinces with significant Christian populations, or, in the case of Bali, amajority Hindu population.
In November 2000 the Laskar Jihad militia announced "We intend during this Ramadan to ... carry out various activities paving the way for full shari'a at least in places that have now become exclusively Islam, such as the islands of Ternate, Tidore and Bacan." This is a kind of code for religious cleansing of Christians from those regions. The town of Poso in Central Sulawesi used to have a population of 40,000, mostly Christian. By the end of 2002 it had been reduced to an exclusively Muslim population of 5,000, with all of its churches destroyed. Reports of the Laskar Jihad's operations in Ambon and Sulawesi describe a systematic progression through villages and towns, sometimes using equipment such as bulldozers, petrol tankers, rocket launchers and other military hardware. Villages are looted, burnt out and razed to the ground.
The Laskar Jihad is known to include fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's top political and security minister, has said of them "They also play a role in defending truth and justice that is expected by Muslims in Indonesia. For me, as far as what they are doing is legal and not violating the law, then this is OK."
The Laskar Jihad has proven links to the Al Qa'ida, which by its title is officially dedicated to world-wide jihad against "Jews and Crusaders" (Crusaders means "Christians" in terrorist-speak). An Al Qa'ida training centre near Poso was used by the Laskar Jihad as a staging base for many attacks against local Christians, constantly frustrating local attempts at reconciliation between Muslims and Christians during 2001. More recently the Laskar Jihad have proclaimed West Papua as their next theatre of operations. Thousands of militants have been gathering there to prepare the way for the next jihad campaing. Although the Laskar Jihad claim to have disbanded just hours before the Bali atrocity, their troops remain in Papua.
The shift from jihad against Indonesian citizens to attacks on foreigners heralds a new phase in the struggle. Yet the goal of this operation must still be measured in terms of the way it could forward the pro-shari'a cause. It has certainly greatly weakened Hindu Bali and, by dealing the tourist trade a deadly blow, it will serve to isolate Indonesia from Western scrutiny and influence. Forcing Megawati to take action against militants could hasten her political demise, and leave the way open for a more acceptable replacement. It also helps the shari'a cause that the operation was conducted in Bali, where Muslims would be much less likely to have been hit as collateral damage.
Sectarian violence or Jihad?
The label 'sectarian violence', used so irresponsibly by the media for all this terror, has served to conceal and minimize the overall impact of the radical jihad groups' activities within Indonesia. The world has allowed destabilization, terror and displacement to advance a very great way already.
As we mourn the lost, and express sympathy and sorrow for the suffering of survivors from the Bali attack, let us work and seek for peace in Indonesia, a return to religious harmony, and a stable future for this great nation.
(*) Dr. Mark Durie is the author of many articles and books on Acehnese language and culture. He is a pastor at St. Hilarys Anglican Church Kew, Melbourne, Australia, and was formerly head of the Department of Linguistics and Language Studies at the University of Melbourne. His insights on Bali and Indonesia come from years of extensive research and experience of Indonesian culture (primarily in Aceh) as well as a continued deep interest in Indonesian affairs.
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Violence in Indonesia leaves two dead
AP (20.05.2002)/HRWF International Secretariat (23.05.2002) - Website http://www.hrwf.net - E-mail info@hrwf.net - Gunmen on motorbikes shot at a high school in Indonesia's war-torn Aceh province Monday, killing two men and sending hundreds of students running for cover, witnesses said.
Police said they had no motive for the shooting in the industrial town of Lhokseumawe, and did not release the names of the victims. No one else was injured.
Guerrillas have been fighting since 1976 for the independence of resource-rich Aceh, about 1,200 miles northwest of Jakarta. At least 12,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians.
Representatives of the government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement held peace talks in Geneva last week, but they failed to stem the violence. A top rebel spokesman was killed soon after the talks concluded.
Aceh is one of several regions in sprawling Indonesia plagued by separatist, racial or religious violence.
East Timor, a former Indonesian province where hundreds died at the hands of Indonesian troops and anti-independence militias following a 1999 vote for independence, became a sovereign nation Monday.
Meanwhile, a Muslim militant group blamed for religious violence in Indonesia's Maluku islands denied Monday that its surrender of some of its weapons was part of a deal to secure the freedom of its jailed leader.
The Laskar Jihad group handed over hundreds of homemade bombs, dozens of pistols and an MK3 machine gun to military officials Sunday in a ceremony outside a mosque in Maluku's provincial capital, Ambon.
The hardline Laskar Jihad organization has been accused of inciting Muslim-Christian violence that has killed about 9,000 people in the Maluku islands since 1999.
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Religious freedom comes under fire in Indonesia
The Far Eastern Economic Review (08.05.2002)/ HRWF (16.05.2002) - Email info@hrwf.net - Websitehttp://www.hrwf.net - Indonesia 's constitutional guarantee of religious freedom is coming under fire from a growing number of the country's autonomous provincial and district governments. Christian leaders recently met with Yusuf Kalla, the coordinating minister for social affairs, to complain about attempts by some local governments to skirt around the constitution and implement Islamic law, or sharia. Kalla comes from South Sulawesi, where the sharia movement seems to have the strongest hold. But other local governments giving it serious thought include the neighbouring districts of Garut and Tasikmalaya in West Java province, Banten province, West Sumatra and Central Kalimantan. The troubled northern Sumatran province of Aceh, where 17 churches have been closed in recent months, is the only place where the government legally permits sharia law. But it might be difficult preventing other provinces from following suit, even though they are not authorized to interpret the constitution.
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Christians Massacred in Moluccas
Zenit (28.04.2002) / HRWF (30.04.2002) - Email info@hrwf.net - Website http://www.hrwf.net - Armed attackers raided a mainly Christian village on the outskirts of Ambon, killing at least 12 people and raising fresh doubts about the chances for peace in the Moluccas, news services reported.
Armed with rifles, grenades and daggers, about a dozen men shouting "kill them all" today stormed the village of Soya, about 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, witnesses told the Associated Press.
They set 30 homes and a Protestant church on fire, and went from house to house, shooting into those that were occupied. Six Christians, including an infant, were stabbed to death and six others were killed in fires. Two more were believed to have been shot to death. Indonesia's official Antara news agency also said six people were wounded.
The murders came two days after the militant Islamic group Laskar Jihad rejected the February peace deal, which aimed to halt the three years of fighting between Muslims and Christians that has left thousands dead.
"It may be the end of the peace deal," said Christian pastor Cornelius Bohm in Ambon. "There is no doubt that it was Laskar Jihad" behind today's attack, he said. A police source in Ambon, however, refused to speculate on the religion of the killers.
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Indonesia's Aceh to form religious police
Reuters (05.03.2002) / HRWF International Secretariat (11.03.2002) C Website http://www.hrwf.net C Email info@hrwf.net - Indonesia's Aceh will soon form the country's first religious police squad to enforce Islamic laws on Muslims in the rebellious province, the official Antara news agency reported on Tuesday.
The government last year granted the staunchly Muslim region more powers including freedom to impose Islamic Sharia law on Muslims in a bid to appease separatist passions in the resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.
''Its main task will be to supervise the implementation of Islamic law, such as that on extra-marital affairs,'' Antara quoted provincial secretary Tanthawi Ishaq as saying.
Ishaq said 2,500 people would be recruited for the squad, although it was unclear exactly when it would begin operations and if it would be overseen by civilian police.
He added that some regions in Aceh would regulate dress codes in some places from March 15, the Islamic new year.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, although the vast majority follow moderate interpretations of Islam.
''We ask non-Muslims not to wear immodest clothes,'' Ishaq said, adding hair salons could no longer assign employees to deal with clients of the opposite sex.
The dress code mainly applies to places such as mosques and other public facilities. Women can only have their faces, hands and feet showing, according to the codes.
In theory, sharia includes stoning to death for adultery and amputations of hands for theft but Acehnese religious leaders have said they would make a lighter interpretation of the law.
So far, implementation of sharia has failed to halt resistance against Jakarta rule. Rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have said they opposed the entire autonomy package and insisted they would take nothing less than independence.
Nationalist President Megawati Sukarnoputri has repeatedly said no part of the country would be allowed to secede.
Some politicians have proposed sharia for the entire country, but have been opposed by the Muslim mainstream.
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