•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

One year ago today, Indonesia hit the headlines with the murder of three members of the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect, by a mob over a thousand strong in a small town not far from Jakarta.

YouTube videos of the incident in Cikeusik, Banten, showed the mob gathering, screaming “God is Great” and calling for Ahmadi blood. They lunge forward to throw stones at the house they are attacking and run back when the defending Ahmadis throw stones back.

One of the kingpins moves further forward, brandishing his machete in the traditional martial art style of pencak silat. Then we see naked figures bathed in blood, members of the mob still beating them with sticks and rocks, some recording their “heroism” on mobile-phone cameras. The images and the story race around the world, shocking and sickening civilized people everywhere, including people in Indonesia.

To say that the Cikeusik murders were premeditated would be an understatement. The fate of Indonesian Ahmadis had been sealed years before, when Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leaders began calling for their killing.

A YouTube video shows Sobri Lubis, a national-level leader of the FPI, going berserk as he whips up the emotions of his congregation, screaming: “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill Ahmadiyah!” He also boasts that should anyone kill Ahmadis, he would be ready to take responsibility alongside his fellow FPI leaders.

This video was discussed in the press and brought to the public’s attention several years before the Cikeusik murders took place, but Indonesian authorities chose to ignore it. And they also ignored the fact that Indonesia has laws banning the incitement of religious hatred.

The current situation, in which the Indonesian government continuously demonstrates how much it fears violent Islamist mass organizations, has been commented on all over the world, including by people in Indonesia. Until he passed away, President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid was the most influential leader who had the guts to stand up to violent Islamists, but even he could not do much to restrict their proliferation. We now have even more hard-line Islamist pressure groups than during his presidency (1999-2001).

The world has also witnessed the unfolding of the legal processes related to the Cikeusik murders. Again, YouTube reveals how one of the Ahmadi survivors was intimidated and threatened by a zealous judge, who asked him why he didn’t just go and get himself killed that day. The victim was in the end given a six-month prison term for his efforts to protect property and human lives. The longest sentence any of the attackers received was also six months. This means that those murderers in all probability are free by now and resuming their careers as preachers of violence and hatred.

The message that the government sent to the people of Indonesia was that Islamists can get away with murder, as long as their victims are members of minority groups. Don’t try bombing Western symbols like Bali nightclubs or the JW Marriott Hotel. For that kind of terror, expect no mercy. To commit murder and get away with it, pick on a minority group and make sure you have a mob, preferably chanting God’s name.

In recent months we have seen attacks by Islamic hard-liners against Christians in Bekasi and Bogor, against Buddhists in North Sumatra, against Hindus in South Sumatra and, lately, against Shiite Muslims in East and West Java.

Commenting on the Shia branch of Islam recently, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said its followers — who have been here since Islam arrived on our shores — form a deviant sect. His statement as a minister cannot but reflect official government policy. And although it seems bizarre, at closer examination it becomes clear that the prosecution of minorities in Indonesia could well be supported by policy. How can this be?

There are only two possible ways to reasonably describe the relationship the Indonesian government has with all the above-ground and high-profile violent Islamist groups.

Many analysts think that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government is a cowardly one that genuinely fears the Islamists and bows down to their whims out of weakness.

The problem with this explanation is that it doesn’t take into account the fact that Yudhoyono is Indonesia’s only democratically elected president so far. With the strongest mandate any leader has ever had, there should be no problem in assertively upholding the Constitution, which explicitly protects the rights of minorities.

Commentators also say Indonesia’s economy has held up well amid the global crisis under Yudhoyono’s leadership, a fact that should give him enough political capital to confidently wield his power, especially when the state-backed philosophy of pluralism is at stake.

Perhaps people should begin to look through the ruse and see what is really happening: Yudhoyono’s government actually supports and benefits from the intimidation of minorities in Indonesia.

The idea is not so far-fetched as it might seem when one considers the fact that high-ranking military and police officials as well as ministers have blessed these groups with their presence at important events or by visiting when their leaders endure a stint in prison.

For a government struggling with corruption, a government that has after all these years failed to account for the disappearing funds of Bank Century, having Islamist mobs that can make headlines at command is very useful. They can effectively divert people’s attention from more serious crimes going on near the heart of power in this country.

A more sinister theory would be to link Yudhoyono with the rumors concerning the “Islamist generals” who, at the end of Suharto’s regime, were said to be preparing the conditions to bring Indonesia under Shariah law.

However one examines the situation, past events suggest that Yudhoyono is not likely to lift a finger to prevent vigilante Islamism. Whether this incompetence is by weakness or by design, his leadership presents a grave danger to the pluralist nature of our nation.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo is a writer, artist and broadcast journalist in East Java.