Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia: Small Town Wars (Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series)

Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia

Indonesia democratized after the long and authoritarian New Order regime ended in May 1998. But the transition was far less peaceful than is often thought. It claimed about 10,000 lives in communal (ethnic and religious) violence, and nearly as many in separatist violence in Aceh and East Timor. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the episodes of long-running, widespread communal violence that erupted during the post-New Order transition. Communal violence on this scale is new to Indonesia. It has been poorly understood by the interested public and specialists alike, whether within Indonesia or outside it. By adopting a contentious politics approach that examines the sociological processes of communal violence, the book details six episodes including ethnic fighting in West and Central Kalimantan, and Muslim–Christian violence in Central Sulawesi, Maluku (Ambon) and North Maluku. Drawing on exhaustive empirical material and detailed reports gathered from field visits to all the affected areas, van Klinken argues that there exists enough similarity between these episodes of communal violence to consider them as a single phenomenon. This violence can be linked to the practice of politics in Indonesia’s frontiers, namely provincial towns beyond Java where democratization and decentralization has led key figures to compete for control of the local state in ‘emergency mode’, by mobilizing ethnic and religious crowds. Such occurrences demonstrate how communal violence can erupt in a poor Third World country when the state is weak. By providing an alternative understanding of violent ethnic conflict in Indonesia through new source material and up-to-date field research, Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia will be essential reading to students of Southeast Asian studies, social movements, political violence and ethnicity. Gerry van Klinken is a Research Fellow at KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, The Netherlands.

Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series

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6 Christianity, Islam and Nationalism in Indonesia Charles E. Farhadian

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Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia Small town wars Gerry van Klinken

3 Governance and Civil Society in Myanmar Education, health and environment Helen James 4 Regionalism in Post-Suharto Indonesia Edited by Maribeth Erb, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto and Carole Faucher

7 Violent Conflicts in Indonesia Analysis, representation, resolution Edited by Charles A. Coppel 8 Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Ronald Bruce St John

Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia Small town wars Gerry van Klinken

First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2007 Gerry van Klinken All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Klinken, Geert Arend van. Communal violence democratization in Indonesia : small town wars / by Gerry van Klinken. p. cm. – (Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series ; 15) Includes bibliographical reference and index. 1. Indonesia – Politics and government – 1998– 2. Communalism – Indonesia. 3. Ethnic conflict – Indonesia. 4. Political violence – Indonesia. I.Title. DS644.5.K597 2007 956.804–dc22 ISBN 0-203-96511-6 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0–415–41713–9 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–203–96511–6 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–41713–6 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–96511–5 (ebk)

2006023831

To all who suffered through the wars and to those unsung heroes in remote places who worked for their end

Contents

List of illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Glossary

viii xvii xix xxi

1

Introduction

1

2

Why now? Temporal contexts

15

3

Why here? The town beyond Java

34

4

Identity formation in West Kalimantan

53

5

Escalation in Poso

72

6

Mobilization in Ambon

88

7

Polarization in North Maluku

107

8

Actor constitution in Central Kalimantan

124

9

Concluding reflections

138

Notes Bibliography Index

147 157 177

Illustrations

Figure 1.1 Deaths and incidents of non-secessionist collective violence in Indonesia, 1990–2003

5

Maps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The Indonesian archipelago (an overview) West Kalimantan Central Kalimantan Central Sulawesi Maluku (an overview) Maluku Province (after North Maluku splits off) Ambon city North Maluku

ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv xvi

Tables 2.1 3.1 3.2 3.3

Jakarta politics, regional unrest Towns and communal violence Proportion of non-agricultural workers Proportion of civil servants to non-agricultural workers (%), 1990 [B] 3.4 Change in number of civil servants/1000 population, 1980s 3.5 Vulnerability to ethnic conflict

28 35 39 41 42 44

Jakarta

Banjarmasin

Palangkaraya

SAVU

WEST TIMOR

ROTI

Kupang

Buton

SERAM

MALUKU

AMBON BANDA

TIMOR LESTE

BURU

SULA

HALMAHERA

TALAUD

THE PHILIPPINES

Minahasa Gorontalo TERNATE

Manado

SANGIHE

SELAYAR FLORES

SUMBA

SUMBAWA

Palu

SULU

SULAWESI

Makassar

MADURA JAVA Tasikmalaya Semarang Surabaya BALI LOMBOK Situbondo

Lampung

SABAH

KALIMANTAN

SARAWAK

BRUNEI

Pontianak

BELITUNG

BANGKA

LINGGA

SINGAPORE RIAU

Bengkulu

Padang

SUMATRA

Kuala Lumpur

Malay Peninsula

MALAYSIA

Map 1 The Indonesian archipelago (an overview).

NIAS

Medan SIMEULUE

ACEH

PENANG

THAILAND

VIETNAM

KEI

W

ARU

S

N

IRIAN JAYA

E

M

SAMBAS Jawal

A

L

A

Y

S

I

A

Sambas Tebas

Siluas

Sanggau Ledo Pemangkat Ledo Singkawang Samalantan Bengkayang Balaikarangan Monterado town

KAPUAS HULU

SANGGAU

Mempawah

Sanggau

er as Riv

Pontianak

Sintang

Kapu

PONTIANAK SINTANG

KETAPANG

SABAH

SULU

BRUNEI SARAWAK

Pontianak KALIMANTAN SULAWESI BELITUNG

Map 2 West Kalimantan.

Banjarmasin

SABAH

SULU

BRUNEI SARAWAK

Pontianak KALIMANTAN SULAWESI Banjarmasin

Barito

River

BELITUNG

R an ng

Tumbang Samba Ka ti

Buntok

r ive Kasongan Parenggean

M

B

Samuda

Ri v

r

e

ya ta en

Sampit

Kumai

an River hay Ka

Pangkalanbun

arit

ive r

Palangkaraya

o R

Kuala Kapuas to Banjarmasin

Map 3 Central Kalimantan.

Manado

Palu

BUOL-TOLITOLI

Makassar

Una-Una

DONGGALA TOGIAN ISLANDS

Donggala town

Parigi Palu

Ampana

BANGGAI

Poso town

Tentena Lake Poso

to Palopo

Map 4 Central Sulawesi.

POSO

BANGGAI ISLANDS

N

W TERNATE

E

HALMAHERA

TIDORE

S BACAN

SULAWESI

IRIAN JAYA OBI

SULA

SERAM BURU

AMBON BANDA

Banda Sea

KEI

ARU WETAR

TANIMBAR

TIMOR LESTE

Map 5 Maluku (an overview).

CERAM

BURU

AMBON

SAPARUA HARUKU Ambon

Tual Dobo BANDA

KEI

ARU WETAR

TENGGARA

TANIMBAR

TIMOR LESTE

Map 6 Maluku Province (after North Maluku splits off).

Batukuning

Poka

Pattimura University Rumah Tiga

Hative Kecil

Wayame

Galala

Sahuru