Felix Utama Kosasih, Jayapura – Amid the festivities surrounding the Eid al-Fitr celebration in Indonesia, the peace and happiness characteristic of the holiday was broken by an attack in Tolikara, a regency in the island of Papua.

Six houses, eleven kiosks, and a mushala (small mosque) were burned, and a man was shot dead. The conflict started when several people from the GIDI (Gereja Injili di Indonesia), a Christian church denomination, confronted the Muslims who were conducting their Eid prayers.

GIDI claimed the sound amplifiers used by the mushala was disturbing a nation-wide seminar held by the church at the same time. By this point, different versions of the story are told by the differing parties. GIDI says its members burned only the kiosks after one man was shot dead by the police guarding the Eid prayers, but the fire later spread to the mushala as well. Another version of the event maintains that not only did the GIDI people burned the mushala, they also threw stones at the mushala.

Then, there is also rumors of a letter issued by GIDI, numbered 90/SP/GIDI-WT/VII/2015. The letter forbids the Eid prayers in its entirety, plus banning the building of any houses of worship in Tolikara, including churches not affiliated to GIDI. It was signed by Pastor Nayus Wenda, Chairman of GIDI Tolikara. The selfish ruling has been slammed by representatives of all religions in Indonesia, as no one should be allowed to prevent anyone from exercising his religious beliefs.

External influence?

All these uncertainties, combined with the loss of life and the fact that this unfortunate incident occurred on the usually highly tolerant Papua, has sparked the theory that the entire conflict was orchestrated by someone outside Papua. This perpetrator is believed to aim for chaos by causing sectarian conflicts in Papua, a region which has only recently started to improve its relationship with Jakarta, under the support and leadership of President Widodo.

The strongest opinion so far came from Fahmi Habsyi, Executive Director of the Trisakti Evaluation Center (Pusaka Trisakti), who believed that what happened in Tolikara was purely an intelligence operation. Habsyi trusts that the Papuan people are tolerant and very polite, and thus the incident cannot be seen on its own. He also thinks that the attack may be related to Widodo's policy of accelerating development in Papua.

"The sequence [of events] must be seen from several one-sided actions which have demanded a referendum on Papua... Someone is trying to create trouble, and also offers the solution through another motive and aim for a compromise. This is a classic style. Hopefully [President Widodo] can see it. Do not underestimate the incident. Remember the riot in Ambon 1999, it was sparked by a mere fight in a terminal. What happened in Papua is more serious than that," explained Habsyi to Berita Satu.

Habsyi's sentiment is echoed by Laode Ida, Chairman of the Presidium of East Indonesia Association (PPIT). "Violence towards a religious group is not the character of Papuans. The Papua people are not like that. They are tolerant and respectful of other people's religious freedom. We strongly believe there are groups who come from outside Papua and then spread a provocative propaganda." Ida also demanded the government to mediate a formal reconciliation process in Tolikara to prevent a cycle of revenge, as reported by Kompas.

The possibility of an outsider whispering to the GIDI congregation has not escaped the attention of General Badrodin Haiti, head of the National Police. "Someone deliberately set the riot. However, we can't confirm yet the existence of a foreign power in the incident. But there are several people from out of the region who were involved in the riot. We are still looking for the intellectual actor."

Meanwhile, state leaders and religious elders alike have called for restraint and peace among all elements in society. In Papua, 15 Christian and Muslim leaders have conducted a meeting and issued a joint apology on the attack. Furthermore, they also requested the law-enforcing authorities to completely investigate the incident and punish the perpetrators in full accordance to the law.

"We regret the burning of mushala and the attack on Muslims in Tolikara, which caused the loss of life in Eid al-Fitr celebrations. In regard of this event, we also push the authorities to immediately solve the problem completely and professionally by processing the actors according to the law. We also ask the people not to be provoked by false issues [spread by] irresponsible people. [We ask] security officals to immediately calm down the situation through strict acts, but without violence, to identify the perpetrator and the cause, so that riots would not expand and repeat itself," said Pastor Herman Saud in the leaders' joint statement.

Other than the 15 elders, pleas for calm have also been voiced by President Widodo, VP Kalla, the Minister for Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, National Police General Badrodin Haiti, and various religious organizations including the Muhammadiyah, PGI (Indonesian Council of Churches), KWI (Indonesian Conference of Churches' Representatives), and MUI (Indonesian Council of Ulema).

In such a time of great celebration of victory for the Muslim people, it is such a shame that several people saw fit to spread violence and hatred. What they did was a great mistake, and they deserve a just punishment. Nevertheless, revenge acts and more riots will not solve anything, neither will it rebuild the burned houses, kiosks, and mushala. Let us spread love and compassion instead, and pray together for a more tolerant and peaceful Indonesia.

Source: http://www.globalindonesianvoices.com/21680/who-orchestrated-the-tolikara-incident/