AustraLasia #124

WAVE OF RELIGIOUS FANATICISM THREATENS INDONESIAN STABILITY

Radical Christians Take Revenge Against Moslems

JAKARTA, DEC 4 -- A wave of religious violence has swept over

Indonesia, adding to existing de-stabilizing factors in the country, such as student manifestations, attacks against foreign businessmen following the financial crisis which ruined the country, and political unrest. General Suharto resigned from power and is locked in his home, a virtual hostage of the students.

Last Monday, groups of Christians attacked and set fire to several mosques, in revenge for attacks on Catholic churches and Chinese Catholics. The Christians also burnt a food store, an Islamic school and a hostel for Islamic pilgrims in Kupang. This city has 120,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom are Christians. On November 22, an Islamic crowd attacked and burnt 22 Christian churches in Jakarta and killed 14 persons.

Bishop Petrus Turnag of Kupang asked the Moslems for forgiveness and appealed for calm. The Islamic leaders called on their people to cease the round of violence. On Tuesday, both Christians and Moslems continued attacking homes and properties, heedless of the call to sanity from their religious leaders.

President B.J. Habibie condemned religious fanaticism and appealed for calm. "We condemn the burning of a house of God," he said in response to Monday's attack against four mosques. "We condemn it whether it is a mosque, a church, or a temple. We condemn it because it goes against the values of our culture, against the universal values of human rights."

More than 15 mosques have been burnt or looted during this past week; Moslem crowds are attacking Christian homes and churches. Armed Moslems and Christians are surrounding their places of worship to prevent further damages.

Thousands of persons equipped with knives and other weapons barricaded the streets of Kupang and began to attack one another. Troops patrol in some parts of this city -- 1,700 miles southeast of Jakarta. The official news agency Antara said that police have arrested the instigators of the trouble, but authorities have not disclosed the number being interrogated.

Last Monday the Pope lamented the violence unleashed in parts of the Pacific archipelago. He referred to the "wave of violence and division" that afflicts the region. "We cannot do anything to prevent natural disasters," but "there are other causes of human suffering which are under our control," he said, pointing to the ongoing tribal wars and religious conflicts.

The transition government in Indonesia has announced general elections for the month of June, and presidential elections for August, in an attempt to stem the students demands for radical institutional reforms. They are surrounding Suharto's home, as was the case with Marcos in the Philippines, angry over the wealth accumulated in 32 years of absolute control of power. President Yusuf Habibie has ordered an investigation of Suharto's patrimony.

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