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Indonesia: Army Now In Charge In Kalimantan
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 (IslamOnline) - On Monday Indonesia announced that the National Defense Forces (TNI) have taken over security tasks from police in the capital city of Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
Observers say this will cool down potential violent conflict in Palangkaraya following clashes between protesters and the police that left at least five dead, moments after President Abdurrahman Wahid left the Central Kalimantan province capital Thursday after a brief visit.
Central Kalimantan Deputy Governor Nahson Taway told the Banjarmasin Post that TNI Commander Admiral Widodo Adisutjipto assigned the military the task of handling security problems in the city.
The TNI has now taken over security duties from local police who have been blamed for slack intervention at the height of an ethnic cleansing massacre led by headhunting Dayaks against Madurese Muslim settlers.
The Dayaks went on a killing spree in late February, slaughtering close to 500 Madurese, beheading many and forcing nearly 60,000 to flee.
The 60,000 were shipped out of Kalimantan with the help of navy vessels that went in force to secure the victims. They are now living in harsh conditions in other areas of Indonesia and do not know their fate for the next few weeks.
After Wahid's visit, which did not alleviate matters in Sampit and Palangkaraya, the police were involved in clashes with Dayaks, who went on another ransacking spree in protest against the possible resettlement of the Madurese in Kalimantan.
At least six people died when police fired into a crowd of Dayak protesters demanding the expulsion of all immigrants from Madura.
Police also opened fire on Dayak protesters as they tried to break into the compound of the provincial chief's home the following day, but no casualties were reported.
On Friday, protesters burned at least 7 police posts in the provincial capital.
Early last week, police and soldiers exchanged fire while jointly trying to secure thousands of refugees. Both sides, however, said a misunderstanding caused the incident.
Other sources, however, said the two security forces were trying to control the escape money Madurese settlers were asked to pay before being allowed to board navy ships in the province.
On Sunday, the torching of houses and other properties belonging to Madurese continued, as tens of houses near Sampit were burned by mobs that had armed themselves with various sharp weapons.
In several areas of Kalimantan, Dayaks blockaded main streets with logs in a bid to prevent Madurese settlers from attempting to take revenge against Dayaks.
On Saturday, there were rumors that shiploads of Madurese men, armed with various weapons, had landed in Central Kalimantan in an attempt to exact revenge for the killing spree carried out by Dayaks.
Wahid on Saturday traveled to the East Java island of Madura, warning victims of the Sampit clashes against ethnic hatred.
"It's not proper if we say that the Dayaks hate the Madurese," Wahid told a gathering of around 800 Madurese refugees and government officials in the city of Bangkalan.
Wahid, who traveled to the island off east Java by ferry, said the government would do everything possible to relocate those who fled the rampage and did not wish to return to Kalimantan.
Meanwhile, a police official defended police action against Dayak protesters. "All bullets used by the officers...were rubber bullets," he insisted.
Wahid blamed the violence between Dayaks and migrants from Madura Island on a small group of agitators and said most people in the province wanted to live in peace.
His mission to quell ethnic tensions in Kalimantan on Thursday went tragically wrong when Dayak protesters threw rocks at riot police who responded with gunfire just minutes after Abdurrahman flew out of the region.
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