Wiranto fans Ambon's flames
by dr. George Junus Aditjondro
Sydney Morning Herald July 18, 2000
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The religious war between Christians and Muslims in Maluku (the Moluccas), which has taken anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 lives in 18 months, is a tragedy that so far has not attracted much concern outside church circles in Australia.
This is despite the fact that in World War II, more than 1,100 Australian troops were sent to Ambon, the provincial capital, to oppose the Japanese invasion, and hundreds are buried in the war cemetery near the city's Pattimura University. But the university was recently burned to the ground in a new invasion, when thousands of Jihad (Holy War) fighters sailed to Maluku with the tacit support of officers loyal to deposed armed forces chief General Wiranto, supposedly to "liberate" their brothers and sisters from "religious cleansing" by Christian Moluccans. As happened in the post-referendum violence in East Timor, the inter-religious riots in Maluku which erupted in January 1999 were well planned by forces loyal to ex-president Soeharto. In this case, they initially had two goals. First, to destabilise one of the strongholds of Megawati Sukarnoputri, who was then the strongest presidential candidate to replace B.J. Habibie. Second, to create unrest in places where General Wiranto wanted to revive army regional commands . He did so four months after the violence flared in Ambon with the old Pattimura Command. While the trouble in Ambon and the nearby islands continued, with more troops flown in, the old Maluku province was soon divided into the predominantly Muslim area of North Maluku, with its capital in Ternate, and the religiously balanced province of Maluku, with Ambon as its capital. After using Ambonese gangsters as a smokescreen, paramilitary forces fuelled the killings and destruction by continuously creating casualties on both sides that cried for revenge. Exhausted and saddened by the killings, Christian and Muslim leaders in Ambon repeatedly tried to make peace between the two groups. Repeatedly, however, two intelligence officers in the Pattimura Command, Colonel Budiatmo and Colonel Nono, made sure that peace could not be restored. Colonel Budiatmo maintains links with the Christian militia in Ambon, while Colonel Nono maintains links with the Muslim militiasm, who are strengthened by the fighters from Java and South Sulawesi. Two other interest groups are involved in maintaining the violence in Maluku. The first is made up of radical Muslims who oppose Mr Wahid's presidency and are financially backed by Fuad Bawazier, a former finance minister under Soeharto who is close to Mr Wahid's main nemesis, parliament speaker Amien Rais. |
WSWS | 20 November 1998 WSWS | 29 July 1999
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The second group consists of Indonesian business conglomerates which benefit from the troubles in Maluku by escaping their obligation to pay trillions of rupiahs owed to the Indonesian banks.
The first group had sent the Jihad fighters to Maluku. The bulk of these fighters are naive villagers who believe in the existence of an international Christian plot to dismantle the Indonesian Republic which, in their eyes, began with the liberation of East Timor. They are assisted by soldiers and deserters from the Indonesian military and police.
The second group consists of the Jayanti, Barito Pacific, Sinar Mas, and Artha Graha Groups which are closely linked to the Soeharto family. Two of these conglomerates, Jayanti and Sinar Mas, have close ties with Australian companies.
With officers loyal to General Wiranto entrenched in the armed forces, Mr Wahid and his deputy have their hands tied. Every time Soeharto or General Wiranto are interrogated, violence flares up in Maluku.
Dr. George Junus Aditjondro - Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Copyright © 2000. The Sydney Morning Herald.
The first group had sent the Jihad fighters to Maluku. The bulk of these fighters are naive villagers who believe in the existence of an international Christian plot to dismantle the Indonesian Republic which, in their eyes, began with the liberation of East Timor. They are assisted by soldiers and deserters from the Indonesian military and police.
The second group consists of the Jayanti, Barito Pacific, Sinar Mas, and Artha Graha Groups which are closely linked to the Soeharto family. Two of these conglomerates, Jayanti and Sinar Mas, have close ties with Australian companies.
With officers loyal to General Wiranto entrenched in the armed forces, Mr Wahid and his deputy have their hands tied. Every time Soeharto or General Wiranto are interrogated, violence flares up in Maluku.
Dr. George Junus Aditjondro - Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Copyright © 2000. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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