Jakarta – Religious and ethnic issues rarely grow into communal conflicts without underlying political and economic motives to trigger unrest, an international relations and security expert said Thursday.
Deputy Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Rizal Sukma said most conflicts were rooted in political or economic problems instead of religious fanaticism or racial bias.
"Many studies have found that political and economic problems are always behind the communal conflicts," Rizal said. Violent incidents initiated solely by religious or racial issues are very hard to find, he said.
Executive director of the Centre for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations (CDCC) Abdul Mukti said all religions taught their believers to refrain from violence. He was speaking at a press conference to welcome the new year.
"All religions teach us not to respond to differences, including differences in belief, with violent acts," Mukti said.
Rizal said religious or ethnic disputes were mostly the side effect of political and economic problems. "The people who trigger these conflicts use religious and ethnic issues for political power mobilization in order to fortify their positions," Rizal said.
He said it was unfortunate in high tension situations, identities became important elements for a community. "Identities, such as religion and ethnicity, could be used to develop self-defense mechanisms, which could escalate conflict," Rizal said.
He cited the example of the bloody communal conflict in Maluku province. He said although the clash was perceived by many as religious, the first incident was triggered by a competition between two gangs seeking control of a traditional market.
Rizal also cited the political dispute involving territorial rights behind the endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "However, the religious element plays a bigger role in this conflict because of the history of that territory," he said.
Also speaking at the conference was Muhammadiyah's leader Din Syamsuddin. Din, who is also one of the CDCC's founders, said any potential for conflict must be eradicated immediately before violence disintegrated the nation.
"In this regard, the state must be present effectively," Din said. "It cannot be absent or escapist, because this will lead to serious problems for the public," Din said.
Rizal said law enforcement was needed for conflict resolution and that efforts should be made outside the court system. "I think we should explore again Indonesian's local wisdom in resolving conflicts," he said.
Violent conflicts were one of the deadliest political diseases, Rizal said, and a culture of violence was unfortunately quite dominant in Indonesia. "How to eradicate the culture of violence is our biggest question," he said. (alf)