The Western part of the Island of Papua became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) transferred administration of the territory in 1963 (here).
In 1969 the territory became a legitimate part of the Republic of Indonesia, and became the province of West Irian, later changed to Irian Jaya in 1973.
With a total land area of 421,981 Km2, the province is the largest province in Indonesia, but it only has a population of 2,9 Million. The province has very rich natural resources a.o Gold and Copper mines, also natural oil and gas, however until now the income of the people is one of the lowest in Indonesia.
The said Copper and Gold mines are run by PT Freeport Indonesia, owned by the multinational company Freeport-McMoRan, since the late '60s are the largest in the world.
These mining activities have cause continuous troubles with local people, and the mines' Tailing have severely impacted the natural environment.
Before May 1998, the authoritarian regime of the late former President Soeharto has managed to fully control the province, silenced it's people's protests, and eliminate separatist movement. by the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
After that year, liberal democracy came to Indonesia, and things started to change, people in the province expressed their protests on various matters such as demand fair share of PT Freeport's revenue, injustice, corruption, poverty etc.
In compliance with the demands of the people, 2002, the name of the province was changed to its original name i.e. Papua.
In 2003, the central government declared the western most of the province, around the Bird's Head peninsula, a separate province called West Papua.
The people of both provinces of Papua has staged protests against the PT Freeport, including strike by its 8,000 workers following several shooting incidents that killed of some the workers.
On Monday 1 August, an internal conflict between two rival candidates of the Gerindra Party for the election of the Head of the Puncak Jaya Regency has caused the death of 21 people.
On Wednesday 3 August, an Army helicopter was shot down by the OPM. Tempo quoted the Army Chief of Staff General Pramono Edhie Wibowo as saying that the helicopter was shot while it was evacuating the body of a soldier who was shot to death the day before at Puncak Jaya. There were no more casualty and the helicopter was able to fly again.
I felt that the social unrest and violence that follow in the provinces of Papua and West Papua were sparked by the same causes like in other parts of Indonesia, i.e. Socio-Political-Economic-Judicial Injustice, Poverty, Corruptions, Greedy Politicians, etc.
I therefore hope that the central government, law enforcement agencies and politicians in Jakarta and in both provinces would do their very best to eliminate all those causes, or at least minimize them, so that their people would live far more happier
Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Protest in Kuala Lumpur
I always thought that Malaysia is a country that provide good economical, industrial, social-cultural, and political environment for its multiracial people to live in peaceful harmony.
My thought is based on the facts that have I seen, read and heard when I frequently visited the country between 1979 to 1983 when my father was assigned to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and other visits after that.
Besides, many Malaysians invested in various business activities here and their products are available in our market such as Proton cars, Petronas petrol stations, and many Indonesians visited various places in the country every year for vacation, working, education, medical treatment or even gambling.
For that reason I was surprised when the news media reported about the clash between 50,000 protesters and the Riot Police in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.
According to Herald Sun, the rare protest was organized by a broad coalition called Bersih that demands indelible ink to be used in the general elections to prevent multiple voting, equal access to the media for all parties and the cleaning-up of electoral rolls.
The opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim made major gains in 2008 elections against the ruling coalition but said it would have done better - potentially threatening the half century rule of the Barisan Nasional - if voting had been more fair.
The street protest was Malaysia's biggest since 2007, when the opposition led a demonstration in the capital also demanding electoral reforms.
At the height of the event, protesters faced baton-wielding riot police in front of a bus station, retreating at times and regrouping to push back police lines in a cat-and-mouse confrontation in heavy downpours.
Some demonstrators fought back by picking up tear gas canisters which they lobbed at police. But police lines held firm and the protesters failed to break through to march to the Merdeka Stadium and to the King's Palace to hand over a memorandum detailing their demands.
A total of 1667 people had been arrested although many were expected to be released on bail.
I hope that both parties would want to seat and talk together so that their differences could be solved amicably.
My thought is based on the facts that have I seen, read and heard when I frequently visited the country between 1979 to 1983 when my father was assigned to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and other visits after that.
Besides, many Malaysians invested in various business activities here and their products are available in our market such as Proton cars, Petronas petrol stations, and many Indonesians visited various places in the country every year for vacation, working, education, medical treatment or even gambling.
For that reason I was surprised when the news media reported about the clash between 50,000 protesters and the Riot Police in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.
According to Herald Sun, the rare protest was organized by a broad coalition called Bersih that demands indelible ink to be used in the general elections to prevent multiple voting, equal access to the media for all parties and the cleaning-up of electoral rolls.
The opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim made major gains in 2008 elections against the ruling coalition but said it would have done better - potentially threatening the half century rule of the Barisan Nasional - if voting had been more fair.
The street protest was Malaysia's biggest since 2007, when the opposition led a demonstration in the capital also demanding electoral reforms.
At the height of the event, protesters faced baton-wielding riot police in front of a bus station, retreating at times and regrouping to push back police lines in a cat-and-mouse confrontation in heavy downpours.
Some demonstrators fought back by picking up tear gas canisters which they lobbed at police. But police lines held firm and the protesters failed to break through to march to the Merdeka Stadium and to the King's Palace to hand over a memorandum detailing their demands.
A total of 1667 people had been arrested although many were expected to be released on bail.
I hope that both parties would want to seat and talk together so that their differences could be solved amicably.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Indonesia and Malaysia Today (Part 2)
In the last few weeks, the media have been reporting about the arrest of 7 Malaysian fishermen by officers of the Indonesian Maritime and Fishery Ministry (KKP), and 3 KPP officers by the Malaysian Police.
Although the governments of both countries have settled the case amicably i.e. by releasing the arrested persons, however some politicians and social activists in Indonesia were not satisfied and therefore reacted by demonstrating harshly and childishly every day in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.
This situation reminded me of an article (below) that I once read on the blog of Rima Fauzi, an Indonesian Singer/songwriter living in Brussels, Belgium.
As a people, Indonesians have become more and more hot-headed by the minute. It is actually something to be ashamed of as hot-headedness is one of the typical signs of being uneducated (thus not being able to keep one’s cool).
Not only are we getting more hot-headed, it seems that we are also falling deeper into ignorance. Which is a shame, because there should be no more excuses for one to be stupid and ignorant seeing as there is almost no restriction on the information flow into the country, nor is there a shortage of ways for a person to educate one’s self auto-didactically (by ways of internet, television, books etc).
We have also become a nation that is stubbornly disrespectful to other nations; people who are different to us; and also our own culture. And by our culture I mean our indigenous culture, not the one you see nowadays in Indonesia or Indonesian television which is full of telenovelas, gossip shows and rich people/celebrities sporting their hedonistic lives on national television for everybody to drool over.
The upside of being this way is none, while the downsides are many. By being hot-headed and ignorant, we often miss simple truths and even more often this trait will make it easy for us to be provoked by the smallest of things. The most recent issue that has taken Indonesia like a storm is how our Malay brothers and sisters from Malaysia are “thieves” of our so-called culture.
While it may come as a surprise to some Indonesians, we should all acknowledge that many Malaysians have Indonesian ancestors, whether from Sumatra, Kalimantan or Java. Even the great Malaysian actor/comedian P Ramlee’s ancestry can be traced back to Aceh, where his father is from.
And let’s not forget the Malaysian students who went to Indonesia five or six decades ago to study, many of which ended up marrying Indonesians who they brought back to Malaysia and produced Malaysian-Indonesian off-springs with.
So basically what I’m saying is as it is apparent that Indonesia is made up of people with Chinese/Indian/ Dutch/Portuguese/Arab/Polynasian/Aborigine ancestry, the same goes for Malaysia. The difference is that in addition to the Malay, Chinese and Indian ancestries that the Malaysians have, Indonesian ancestry is also in the mix, hence the many similarities in our foods, clothing materials, music, etc.
Yet we accuse them of stealing this and that, from our culture to our cuisine. While in fact we are both originally Malay people (the race of which people from the northernmost part of Thailand and people from the Philippines also belong to) sharing many of the same culture and cuisine traits that it’s a little absurd (not to mention difficult) to claim which is whose first to be stolen by the other second.
Personally, instead of calling Malaysia thieves, I think we should ‘steal’ something from them. You all know how in the 60s and 70s we were much more progressed and advanced than them that they sent many of their students to study in Indonesia and hired many teachers and lecturers to teach their younger generation in Malaysia. What I don’t get is why it’s the other way around now, six decades later.
We all know Malaysians aren’t perfect and neither are we, but I do salute their determination and ability to turn up trumps, as today it’s us who send our kids to study in Malaysia; it’s us who are less progressed and are less advanced (technology and economy wise), and it’s us who are lagging behind. I think we should learn from them and ‘steal’ their tips and tricks in pulling a 180 from being blah to hurrah!
After the lengthy explanation above on the origins of both nations and all my positive observation about Malaysia, you may:
a. hate me, or
b. think, “Ok, so we share many traits with Malaysia, but it still doesn’t explain them using the Balinese pendet dance, because Unlike Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java, Bali is very specific and unique, that their culture is not found anywhere but Bali.”
For those of you who chose ‘a’ I will advise you to take a number and wait in line. For those who opted ‘b’ Ok, point well taken. But the thing is, the recent debacle over the Pendet dance that we claimed to have been used by the Malaysian government in an advertisement they have made to promote their country, an issue that turned countless Indonesians angry, with our Minister of Tourism hastily sending a letter to his Malaysian counterpart, demanding the ad campaign be removed, is a more complicated than it seemed.
Turns out, the whole thing was a misunderstanding and a BIG mistake on our part. And let me emphasize on the BIG MISTAKE. Apparently out of the 250 million or so people living in the beautiful archipelago we call Indonesia, none of us did our homework thoroughly before blasting bullets to the so-called ‘enemy of the state’ a.k.a, Malaysia because,
Some people went as far as protesting in front of the Malaysian Embassy over their ‘unauthorized use of the Pendet dance’ in their ‘mysterious advertisement’ and a small radical group even performed ‘raids’ on Malaysians on the streets of Jakarta, against stern warnings from the Indonesian Police Force. Why the Indonesian media blew the accusations out of proportion which created havoc but didn’t really publish the truth after they found out (with the exception of The Jakarta Globe), is beyond me.
But as I wrote in one of my older posts, the Indonesian media is as responsible to many of the things happening in our country as the Indonesian people themselves (who are easily provoked by these so-called ‘news’ and then usually go run amok like a drunken bull before getting all their facts and figures straight).
Now as if that’s not embarrassing enough, our resurfaced accusations of Malaysians using one of our folk songs called Terang Bulan and turning it into their National Anthem has really put us in a shit-hole.
Leading Indonesian musician and artist, Remy Sylado, as quoted by The Jakarta Globe, said the so-called Indonesian song “Terang Bulan” (“Moonlight”) was actually an adaptation of “La Rosalie,” which was composed in the 19th century by Pierre-Jean de Beranger of Francey.
Citing a Dutch historical text on national anthems, Sylado said the song became popular in the former French colony of the Seychelles and arrived in the Malay archipelago at the turn of the 20th century, where it was eventually used as the basis for Malaysia’s anthem, “Negaraku” (“My Country”).
With this new finding, Malaysians can easily accuse us as thieves ourselves. The question remains, Who’s the thief now? Who stole what from who? And, Who is the thief first?
Why are we that easy to provoke, especially when it comes to matters of religion and the relationship of Indonesia and Malaysia? Weren’t we at one point ONE people? Why do we keep on blasting Malaysians for ‘stealing’ our cultural heritage but don’t do much to promote it ourselves? Why do we get angry when a country ‘steals’ our cultural heritage but feel at ease about stealing other people’s culture? (This is in relation to the fact that the Indonesian ‘indigenous’ culture is actually heavily influenced by the Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Aborigines, European, Portuguese, other South East Asian countries, etc.)
Now as a person and a member of our nation we must all ask ourselves. Why are we easily provoked?
We should stop this silliness and learn to contain our emotions. Most importantly, true to the saying that those who live in a glass house should not throw stones, we should be aware of our own weaknesses, of the things that we ‘stole’ before accusing other people of ‘stealing’ anything.
Think about it, maybe the truest ‘culture’ we have now is corruption, collusion and nepotism. And that’s not even something to be proud about.
Although the governments of both countries have settled the case amicably i.e. by releasing the arrested persons, however some politicians and social activists in Indonesia were not satisfied and therefore reacted by demonstrating harshly and childishly every day in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta.
This situation reminded me of an article (below) that I once read on the blog of Rima Fauzi, an Indonesian Singer/songwriter living in Brussels, Belgium.
Indonesia vs. Malaysia: Why are Indonesians easily provoked?
09.03.09
As a people, Indonesians have become more and more hot-headed by the minute. It is actually something to be ashamed of as hot-headedness is one of the typical signs of being uneducated (thus not being able to keep one’s cool).
Not only are we getting more hot-headed, it seems that we are also falling deeper into ignorance. Which is a shame, because there should be no more excuses for one to be stupid and ignorant seeing as there is almost no restriction on the information flow into the country, nor is there a shortage of ways for a person to educate one’s self auto-didactically (by ways of internet, television, books etc).
We have also become a nation that is stubbornly disrespectful to other nations; people who are different to us; and also our own culture. And by our culture I mean our indigenous culture, not the one you see nowadays in Indonesia or Indonesian television which is full of telenovelas, gossip shows and rich people/celebrities sporting their hedonistic lives on national television for everybody to drool over.
The upside of being this way is none, while the downsides are many. By being hot-headed and ignorant, we often miss simple truths and even more often this trait will make it easy for us to be provoked by the smallest of things. The most recent issue that has taken Indonesia like a storm is how our Malay brothers and sisters from Malaysia are “thieves” of our so-called culture.
While it may come as a surprise to some Indonesians, we should all acknowledge that many Malaysians have Indonesian ancestors, whether from Sumatra, Kalimantan or Java. Even the great Malaysian actor/comedian P Ramlee’s ancestry can be traced back to Aceh, where his father is from.
And let’s not forget the Malaysian students who went to Indonesia five or six decades ago to study, many of which ended up marrying Indonesians who they brought back to Malaysia and produced Malaysian-Indonesian off-springs with.
So basically what I’m saying is as it is apparent that Indonesia is made up of people with Chinese/Indian/ Dutch/Portuguese/Arab/Polynasian/Aborigine ancestry, the same goes for Malaysia. The difference is that in addition to the Malay, Chinese and Indian ancestries that the Malaysians have, Indonesian ancestry is also in the mix, hence the many similarities in our foods, clothing materials, music, etc.
Yet we accuse them of stealing this and that, from our culture to our cuisine. While in fact we are both originally Malay people (the race of which people from the northernmost part of Thailand and people from the Philippines also belong to) sharing many of the same culture and cuisine traits that it’s a little absurd (not to mention difficult) to claim which is whose first to be stolen by the other second.
Personally, instead of calling Malaysia thieves, I think we should ‘steal’ something from them. You all know how in the 60s and 70s we were much more progressed and advanced than them that they sent many of their students to study in Indonesia and hired many teachers and lecturers to teach their younger generation in Malaysia. What I don’t get is why it’s the other way around now, six decades later.
We all know Malaysians aren’t perfect and neither are we, but I do salute their determination and ability to turn up trumps, as today it’s us who send our kids to study in Malaysia; it’s us who are less progressed and are less advanced (technology and economy wise), and it’s us who are lagging behind. I think we should learn from them and ‘steal’ their tips and tricks in pulling a 180 from being blah to hurrah!
After the lengthy explanation above on the origins of both nations and all my positive observation about Malaysia, you may:
a. hate me, or
b. think, “Ok, so we share many traits with Malaysia, but it still doesn’t explain them using the Balinese pendet dance, because Unlike Kalimantan, Sumatra and Java, Bali is very specific and unique, that their culture is not found anywhere but Bali.”
For those of you who chose ‘a’ I will advise you to take a number and wait in line. For those who opted ‘b’ Ok, point well taken. But the thing is, the recent debacle over the Pendet dance that we claimed to have been used by the Malaysian government in an advertisement they have made to promote their country, an issue that turned countless Indonesians angry, with our Minister of Tourism hastily sending a letter to his Malaysian counterpart, demanding the ad campaign be removed, is a more complicated than it seemed.
Turns out, the whole thing was a misunderstanding and a BIG mistake on our part. And let me emphasize on the BIG MISTAKE. Apparently out of the 250 million or so people living in the beautiful archipelago we call Indonesia, none of us did our homework thoroughly before blasting bullets to the so-called ‘enemy of the state’ a.k.a, Malaysia because,
- The advertisement wasn’t made by the Malaysian government or anybody in Malaysia,
- The ‘advertisement’ isn’t even an advertisement to promote their country as we have made to believe,
- The ‘advertisement’ was an ad created by the Asian Discovery channel to promote one of their TV shows. The TV station have acknowledged their mistake and apologized for it, after where some embarrassed Indonesians re-directed their anger at, what with Discovery channel being owned by the usual suspects and all (and by usual suspects I mean Americans and Jews – who most Indonesians believe are the evil culprits who monopolize all information flow in the world *yawns* thus are TRUE ‘enemy of the state’ as opposed to Malaysians because at the end of the day, we are all a big beige/brown nation sharing the same culture, language and religion)
Some people went as far as protesting in front of the Malaysian Embassy over their ‘unauthorized use of the Pendet dance’ in their ‘mysterious advertisement’ and a small radical group even performed ‘raids’ on Malaysians on the streets of Jakarta, against stern warnings from the Indonesian Police Force. Why the Indonesian media blew the accusations out of proportion which created havoc but didn’t really publish the truth after they found out (with the exception of The Jakarta Globe), is beyond me.
But as I wrote in one of my older posts, the Indonesian media is as responsible to many of the things happening in our country as the Indonesian people themselves (who are easily provoked by these so-called ‘news’ and then usually go run amok like a drunken bull before getting all their facts and figures straight).
Now as if that’s not embarrassing enough, our resurfaced accusations of Malaysians using one of our folk songs called Terang Bulan and turning it into their National Anthem has really put us in a shit-hole.
Leading Indonesian musician and artist, Remy Sylado, as quoted by The Jakarta Globe, said the so-called Indonesian song “Terang Bulan” (“Moonlight”) was actually an adaptation of “La Rosalie,” which was composed in the 19th century by Pierre-Jean de Beranger of Francey.
Citing a Dutch historical text on national anthems, Sylado said the song became popular in the former French colony of the Seychelles and arrived in the Malay archipelago at the turn of the 20th century, where it was eventually used as the basis for Malaysia’s anthem, “Negaraku” (“My Country”).
With this new finding, Malaysians can easily accuse us as thieves ourselves. The question remains, Who’s the thief now? Who stole what from who? And, Who is the thief first?
Why are we that easy to provoke, especially when it comes to matters of religion and the relationship of Indonesia and Malaysia? Weren’t we at one point ONE people? Why do we keep on blasting Malaysians for ‘stealing’ our cultural heritage but don’t do much to promote it ourselves? Why do we get angry when a country ‘steals’ our cultural heritage but feel at ease about stealing other people’s culture? (This is in relation to the fact that the Indonesian ‘indigenous’ culture is actually heavily influenced by the Chinese, Arabs, Indians, Aborigines, European, Portuguese, other South East Asian countries, etc.)
Now as a person and a member of our nation we must all ask ourselves. Why are we easily provoked?
We should stop this silliness and learn to contain our emotions. Most importantly, true to the saying that those who live in a glass house should not throw stones, we should be aware of our own weaknesses, of the things that we ‘stole’ before accusing other people of ‘stealing’ anything.
Think about it, maybe the truest ‘culture’ we have now is corruption, collusion and nepotism. And that’s not even something to be proud about.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tanjung Priok Port Riot
Yesterday, a bloody fighting between city security personnel and ordinary people took place very close to the Container Terminal of the Jakarta harbour in Tanjung Priok.
The fighting began when 2,000 security personnel helped by 600 Police officers used Water Cannons, Tear gas, Rubber bullets, Batons to drive back people who protested against the demolition of a graveyard of an Islamic cleric. Please find below a news report about the incident that I have quoted from Kompas.
Actually this incident should not happen because the legal status of disputed graveyard area has been decided by the North Jakarta Court in 2002 as belongs the port authority. And both parties have agreed to settle their differences amicably. But unfortunately, very slow implication of the agreement has caused misunderstandings.
How SBY Responses Deadly Tomb Protest in Jakarta
Kamis, 15 April 2010 | 07:29 WIB
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Protesters wielding machetes, sticks and petrol bombs clashed with riot police in running battles over a Muslim cleric’s tomb near the Indonesian capital’s main seaport, killing two people and wounding some 130 others. Some of the injuries were severe, including an officer who had his stomach slashed and another whose hand was chopped off. Wednesday’s violence was Jakarta’s worst civil unrest in years.
About 2,000 city security officers and 600 police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and batons to beat back the protesters near the seaport of Tanjung Priok in northern Jakarta, city spokesman Cucu Kurnia said. Police estimated the number of protesters at 500. The demonstrators threw rocks and petrol bombs, setting fire to at least five police vehicles and destroying dozens of others.
An Associated Press photographer saw several protesters beaten by police and dragged away bleeding, including teenagers. Fist fights broke out and burning tires and cars sent a cloud of black smoke over the port.
The protesters believed city officials were trying to remove the tomb of an Arab cleric who helped spread Islam in North Jakarta in the 18th century. The tomb is on land owned by the state-run seaports operator Pelindo II, and the area is home to many squatters.
Two people were killed in the clashes and the death toll could increase, deputy national police spokesman Col. Zaenuri Lubis told reporters late Wednesday. The demonstration began in the morning when hundreds of security officials showed up near the tomb with excavators. Kurnia denied the tomb was the target, saying the city wanted to remove the squatters.
“We did not intend to demolish the tomb, but we want to evict the illegal settlers. In fact, the local government wanted to preserve or restore the tomb,” Kurnia said. The protesters believed otherwise and attacked city officials, sparking running battles that lasted several hours. A second round of intense fighting broke out hours later outside the hospital where the wounded had been taken. By nightfall the clashes had stopped, but the situation was still tense.
Protesters maintained control of the area around the tomb and some 500 security forces had to be evacuated to a nearby police station by boat because leaving by road would have likely led to more clashes, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman at the transportation ministry. Just after midnight, several hundred protesters set fire to five security vehicles parked outside the hospital, Metro TV reported.
The flare-up came a short time after senior government and police officials visited the hospital. Kurnia said authorities were surprised by the response of those living near the tomb.
“The mass anger was horrible and beyond our expectation for what was a simple case,” he said.
Kurnia said members of a hard-line Muslim group also were involved in the fighting. “The locals were supported by a mass organization who outnumbered the locals by twofold,” he said.
Kurnia declined to name the group. He may have been referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, an organization with a long history of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies, and torching buildings belonging to rival groups or sects it considers heretical.
Jakarta police chief Maj. Gen. Wahyono, who uses a single name, said 130 people were wounded, including 79 security forces. Kurnia said seven were in critical condition, including a security officer who had his stomach slashed open with a machete, and another whose hand was cut off.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern and regret over the clashes and ordered an investigation. He also called on Jakarta’s governor to meet all parties involved and put any evictions in the area on hold until a solution can be reached.
About 2,000 city security officers and 600 police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and batons to beat back the protesters near the seaport of Tanjung Priok in northern Jakarta, city spokesman Cucu Kurnia said. Police estimated the number of protesters at 500. The demonstrators threw rocks and petrol bombs, setting fire to at least five police vehicles and destroying dozens of others.
An Associated Press photographer saw several protesters beaten by police and dragged away bleeding, including teenagers. Fist fights broke out and burning tires and cars sent a cloud of black smoke over the port.
The protesters believed city officials were trying to remove the tomb of an Arab cleric who helped spread Islam in North Jakarta in the 18th century. The tomb is on land owned by the state-run seaports operator Pelindo II, and the area is home to many squatters.
Two people were killed in the clashes and the death toll could increase, deputy national police spokesman Col. Zaenuri Lubis told reporters late Wednesday. The demonstration began in the morning when hundreds of security officials showed up near the tomb with excavators. Kurnia denied the tomb was the target, saying the city wanted to remove the squatters.
“We did not intend to demolish the tomb, but we want to evict the illegal settlers. In fact, the local government wanted to preserve or restore the tomb,” Kurnia said. The protesters believed otherwise and attacked city officials, sparking running battles that lasted several hours. A second round of intense fighting broke out hours later outside the hospital where the wounded had been taken. By nightfall the clashes had stopped, but the situation was still tense.
Protesters maintained control of the area around the tomb and some 500 security forces had to be evacuated to a nearby police station by boat because leaving by road would have likely led to more clashes, said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman at the transportation ministry. Just after midnight, several hundred protesters set fire to five security vehicles parked outside the hospital, Metro TV reported.
The flare-up came a short time after senior government and police officials visited the hospital. Kurnia said authorities were surprised by the response of those living near the tomb.
“The mass anger was horrible and beyond our expectation for what was a simple case,” he said.
Kurnia said members of a hard-line Muslim group also were involved in the fighting. “The locals were supported by a mass organization who outnumbered the locals by twofold,” he said.
Kurnia declined to name the group. He may have been referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, an organization with a long history of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies, and torching buildings belonging to rival groups or sects it considers heretical.
Jakarta police chief Maj. Gen. Wahyono, who uses a single name, said 130 people were wounded, including 79 security forces. Kurnia said seven were in critical condition, including a security officer who had his stomach slashed open with a machete, and another whose hand was cut off.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern and regret over the clashes and ordered an investigation. He also called on Jakarta’s governor to meet all parties involved and put any evictions in the area on hold until a solution can be reached.
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