Irwan Firdaus, Sukamandi – In the most violent day of protests yet in Indonesia's economic crisis, thousands went on the rampage in at least eight towns today, venting their anger against Chinese traders they blame for soaring prices and mass unemployment.
One death was reported – a man killed in the biggest riot, in Losari, where more than 3,000 people ran wild, the official Anatra news agency reported. No details of the death were immediately available. Mobs burned or damaged hundreds of shops, houses and cars. Three Chinese churches in two towns were raided and furniture was burned outside. Looting was widespread. Police detained hundreds of people, while scores of terrified Chinese families took shelter in police stations or fled to other towns.
Fearful residents painted the word "Muslim" on their doors to keep rioters from attacking their homes. "The crowd became angry in the morning because of rising food prices in the market. They rioted until sunset," said witness Neng Kursiasih in Sukamandi, about 45 miles east of Jakarta. Rioters hurled stones at buildings and vehicles. Others grabbed goods from shop shelves, piled them in the streets, and set them on fire.
Streets were littered with rocks, shattered glass and burned debris as troops patrolled late into the night to stop sporadic outbreaks of new rioting. Violent protests flared on the eastern side of Java about a month ago and have progressively moved west toward the capital, Jakarta, as the pain from the worst economic crisis in three decades hits the poor.
Today's strife broke out a day after President Suharto ordered the military to crack down on activists he accused of exploiting widespread economic discontent to destabilize the state ahead of a presidential election in March.
Suharto, who has governed for 32 years, is expected to win a seventh five-year term when a 1,000-member electoral college-like assembly votes.
Ethnic Chinese, who are mainly Christian or Buddhist, make up about 4 percent of Indonesia's population of 202 million, which is about 90 percent Muslim. Chinese dominate commerce and storekeepers are often targeted as scapegoats when prices increase and civil unrest breaks out. Hundreds of police and troops armed with shields and sticks were trucked in from other towns to restore calm in Losari, about 125 miles east of Jakarta.
Violence was also reported in the towns of Ciasem, Gebang, Pamanukan and Jatiwangi as well as Sukamandi. All six towns are on the western side of the main island of Java. Roads leading to the towns were closed when rioters threw rocks at passing automobiles. Some were reopened later but only after police warned drivers that their safety could not be guaranteed.
"I'm worried about what will happen next," said Arifin, a resident of riot-torn Pamanukan, about 55 east of Jakarta. "I saw angry mobs set fire to shops. Many Chinese families left town."
About 160 people were arrested in Pamanukan where 23 shops were burned, police said. Security personnel in other towns reported dozens of arrests, but gave no exact figures.
Many shops in Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, were closed amid fears that the trouble would spread, police said. However, the city was quiet tonight.