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| Mobile Brigade police officers escort women and children of Shia group during evacuation from their hiding place in Karanggayam and Bluuran villages, Sampang, East Java, on Monday. Police evacuated at least 182 Shiites following an attack by a Sunni Muslim group. (Antara Photo) |
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President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday asked law enforcers and ministers to take
swift and proper action to prevent further violence against Shia groups in
Sampang, Madura, East Java after a recent attack on the sect took two lives.
“I have
talked with the East Java governor... I hope there will be effective measures
taken by all of you and your staffs to ensure these events will not repeatedly
happen in the same place,” Yudhoyono told his ministers and some legal
institution chiefs at a limited cabinet meeting, as quoted by Antara news
agency.
During the
meeting attended by the Justice and Human Rights Minister, the National Police
chief, the Military chief and the Attorney General, the president said that
similar attacks have occurred three times in the past few years.
“In the
past two years, attacks have taken place twice, with another occurring once
before.”
On Sunday
at 11 AM, a mob of Sunni Muslims attacked a group of Shia students and teachers
with swords and machetes in Sampang. According to Umi Kulsum, local people who
were present at the scene said that two people, Hamama and Tohir, died in the
attacks, while five were injured. The mob also torched thirty-five homes
belonging to the Shiite community.
The Freedom
of Religion and Faith Advocacy Working Group (AKBB) said that based on witness
testimony, there were police officers present during the attack but they did
not do anything to help quell the situation — they merely sat near where the
violence occurred. Later in the afternoon, police evacuated 176 Shiites to
Sampang sports stadium. Some of them had fled earlier to hide in the mountains
and at family’s houses.
Religious
Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali cursed the attack, saying that religion
teaches peace and not violence.
“Violence in
the name of anything, especially in the name of religion or religious
difference, can not be justified,” Suryadharma said. “Every problem that is
raised from a difference in opinion should be solved through constructive
conversation.”
He asked
the local Religious Minister’s office to coordinate a dialogue on the issue.
Akhol
Firdaus of the AKBB has criticized the police for failing to anticipate the
attack, even though the plan of the attack had been disclosed before Idul Fitri
fell.
“Police
ignore the violence that has taken lives and caused material losses,” Akhol
said. “The government has failed in providing security and guaranteeing the
basic rights of Shiites in Sampang. The government has also failed to protect
Shiites from systematic and well-planned threats of violence.”
On Dec. 29,
Shiites in Nangkernang were also attacked by hard-line Muslim groups, who set
fire to hundreds of homes and a Shia Islamic school, displacing 500 Shiites
from their village.
After the
cabinet meeting, President Yudhoyono commented that “heavy sanctions [against
the perpetrators] may be good for our nation,” as quoted by Detik.com. “Under
such conditions, it’s not easy for citizens or certain parties to violate the
law.”
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