Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi defended on Monday the recent move by local authorities to prohibit hundreds of internally displaced Shia from returning to their homes in Sampang, Madura, for Idul Fitri and from visiting relatives in other areas of the island, saying that reconciliation was an ongoing process.
"It [the whole matter] is an ongoing process [overseen by a team] which is led by [Sunan Ampel Islamic State Institute] rector [Ab A'la]. We [the central government] have asked him to continue discussing it," Gamawan said on Monday at the State Palace after he paid a visit on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during an Idul Fitri open house.
"When the local community is ready to accept [them] and if the situation is conducive, of course we [the government] want them to return," Gamawan said in response to a question of whether the government supported the decision to stop them from celebrating Idul Fitri in their hometown this year. Shiites from Sampang were forcibly evicted from their homes two years ago.
Previously, Universalia Legal Aid Foundation coordinator Hertasning Ichlas revealed that Ikli Al Milal, coordinator for the displaced Sampang Shia, had sent him a message to explain that they were facing difficulties in returning home to celebrate Idul Fitri and the local authorities had cited security concerns.
Hertasning said the central government and the East Java administration continued to claim that the situation in Sampang was not safe, but they had failed to provide any clear or detailed explanation and despite local people in Sampang instigating several positive initiatives to resolve the inter-communal conflict.
According to Hertasning, the displaced Shiites and the local community had also agreed to reconcile as part of a "peace for people" program.(dic)