Trust Issues

This is my first article in Tempo English Magazine. There was a miscommuncation regarding this article, I thought I was asked to write this by Asiaview Magazine, but apaprently it was Tempo English Edition on October.

As a result, I don't have a hard copy of this article.

--

Trust Issues
October 12, 2011

 THERE is both good and bad news in analyzing the recent religious clashes in Ambon and the suicide bombing that hit a Christian church in Solo.

First, the good news. The incidents show that by and large the issue of religious conflict is no longer popular, society has matured and is now more skeptical than ever before.

Unlike in the early days of Reformasi, when religious clashes in Ambon were met with intensive and uncritical media coverage and politicians jumped onto the bandwagon of religious indignation, demanding to defend the faith, this time everyone called for restraint, demanding the government restore order.

It was probably a blessing in disguise that the last conflict was so bloody and so traumatic to Indonesians’ psyche that this time politicians and mainstream organizations were more mature in handling the incidents. Provocative SMS and Tweets were immediately denounced. The mainstream mass media showed more restraint in covering the incident and people actually criticized coverage that was seen as too provocative. The Ambon incident was able to stay localized.

The same pattern happened in reaction to the Solo bombing. There was an outpouring of condemnation for the act of terror and sympathy for the victims. Rather than being seen as hero or a syahid, the suicide bomber was widely condemned and ostracized.

At the same time, the government did some right things. This time, the government immediately jumped into the fray by sending both police and military reinforcements to the troublespots, thus preventing the conflict from spiraling out of control. By having a large number of forces in Ambon, the government signaled that this time it would not be caught with its pants down and would deter anyone trying to take advantage of the situation.

In the Solo case, the police actually did take the threat of attack seriously and had already sent an officer to guard the church. To be fair, it was more due to an unfortunate personal lapse of judgment than to institutional or intelligence failure that the suicide bomber managed to fulfill his grisly quest.

Yet, at the same time, the two incidents showed some troubling facts. First, religious harmony in many locales is still very fragile. Even though national figures are united in condemning the acts of terror, there remain local officials playing religious issues for political gain, such as most recently the act of the Bogor mayor in closing the GKI Yasmin Church, which has the necessary permits.

With the government unwilling or unable to rein in flagrant abuses of law, this encourages the growth of local-based radical groups. This in turn creates fertile recruitment grounds for homegrown terror groups that fly below the radar, such as the Cirebon group that has twice launched suicide bombings.

Lack of local initiatives due to local politicking also causes the Malino agreement, which ended the Ambon conflict, to be less effective. By and large, the conflict was settled as both sides were virtually exhausted, unable and unwilling to fight anymore, thus the situation was ripe for peace. Yet after the accord, there was no lasting follow-up process to reintegrate the society. The government seemed to only be interested in calming the conflict, rather than creating conditions for lasting peace. Thus, the reconciliation process was slow and haphazard, without extensive official support. The recent conflict showed that tensions between the communities remains high and only the painful memory of previous conflict managed to prevent this incident from exploding out of control as before.

Another thing is that while people can no more be easily provoked, they distrust the government too. This is not out of the blue but a gradual decline that was started by revelations of corruption scandals, official misconduct in the ministries, national and local bureaucracies, parliament, the courts, and law enforcement. Add to the mix the aforementioned religious politicking and it’s not surprising that public trust in the government has steadily eroded.

The distrust accelerated after disclosures that law enforcement agencies may have a direct hand in coordinating the conduct of widely reviled militant groups. As a result, the government is no longer seen as benign and protective. It is now an object of suspicion, its actions open to doubt, and people see it as a possible source of mischief.

So many people have casually speculated that the Ambon incident was provoked by elements within the police, the military or even local politicians. There was even a false rumor that the Ambon incident was too convenient, supposedly coming on the heels of a KPK visit to investigate local corruption. The Solo bombing also sparked allegations that it was just another attempt to distract the public from the swirling corruption scandals currently hitting President Yudhoyono’s cabinet.

Finally, the two incidents show the lack of public trust in the police force itself. In Ambon, the memory of the past clash, where police were seen as taking sides rather than acting impartially, created distrust of the police. Thus when the police were unable to ascertain the sender of the provocative SMS or the real cause of the death of the Muslim motorcycle taxi driver that sparked the current clash, it created the perception that the police were not serious in dealing with the crisis, or worse, on the other side of the fence. Small wonder that the government had to make a show of force by bringing in thousands of police and military personnel to show they were truly interested in maintaining peace and being impartial.

In contrast, Joko Widodo, the popular Solo mayor, who is seen as honest, just and evenhanded, managed to calm the situation by immediately meeting with the local mass and religious organizations to prevent more misunderstanding and suspicions. His leadership is widely praised as helping to defuse tensions and quickly restore conditions to normalcy.

Both incidents show that public trust in the government is essential to maintain lasting peace. In Ambon it took a lot of personnel to maintain peace in places where public trust in the government had been broken. In Solo, however, the situation quickly returned to normal thanks to a strong leadership that is able to maintain popular trust.