One Killed in East Java Clash Between Rival Islamic Groups

The Jakarta Globe, September 12, 2013.


A long-delayed parade celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day was marred by violence on Wednesday as tensions between rival Islamic leaders boiled over in the latest instance of sectarian-tinged bloodshed to stain East Java.

The parade re-ignited a long-standing feud in Jembar, East Java, between Muhdor al-Hamid, an Islamic leader from Tanggul subdistrict, and Ali al-Habsyi, a popular leader from the neighboring Puger subdistrict. The two men — and their followers — have been embroiled in a dispute spanning nearly a decade that has become steeped in allegations of jealousy and religion baiting.

Wednesday’s violence, which began with an unruly protest against police and ended with the savage mob beating of a local fishermen, stemmed, in part, from confusion over the religious affiliation of Ali, the head of the Darus Sholihin Islamic boarding school in Puger Kulon village.

In 2004, Muhdor, in an alleged act of “jealousy,” accused Ali of being a Shiite Muslim. The popular Islamic leader had strayed from the “true path of Islam,” Muhdor said. Both Ali and the Ahlul Bait Indonesia (ABI), a Shia organization, have denied the allegation.

But the assertions have done little to cool tensions between the two communities.

“The violence started in Puger last year because of jealousy toward Ali, who has a lot of influence and a huge number of followers,” Herstaning Ichlas, spokesman of ABI, tweeted on Thursday. “The jealousy was then embodied in an accusation that he is a Shiite just because Ali, a Sufi, often quoted verses from the Shia [texts].”

The latest instance of violence began innocently enough with a parade. The Darus Sholihin boarding school had unsuccessfully applied for a police permit to hold an Independence Day parade in Puger Kulon near the holiday. The permit was later approved for a parade on Wednesday, and then revoked at the last minute, said Aan Anshori, coordinator of Anti-Discrimination Islamic Network (JIAD.)

“The carnival committee had secured a police permit, but it was canceled minutes before the event following pressure from Muhdor’s group,” Aan said.

Police in Puger Kulon erected a barbed-wire fence around the Islamic boarding school in an attempt to keep the students inside, Aan said. Parents soon arrived on the scene and pulled down the fence, hurling stones at police as the students and teachers poured out of the school.

One officer, First Adj. Insp. Suparman, suffered a head injury from a stone.

As the group led a parade around the village, a rival mob from villages in neighboring Tanggul subdistrict stormed the school while police stood guard. The mob, of about 30 people, vandalized the school’s mosque and damaged motorcycles and classrooms before setting one alight, according to reports in the Indonesian newspaper Kompas.

“When the students were having a carnival, people from Tanggul subdistrict attacked the empty school,” Aan said. “They broke windows and damaged 41 motorcycles.”

Members of the Darus Sholihin community, angered by the attack, set off toward the coast in search of those responsible. The blame was pegged on Eko Mardi Santoso, a fisherman from Tanggul and friend of Fauzi, a local member of the local chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization. Eko and Fauzi both had a history of criticizing Ali and his followers.

Fauzi had invited Muhdor to lead a Koran recital session in Puger in May of 2012. Ali’s supporters refused to allow the study group to meet and Eko was injured in the ensuing brawl.

On Wednesday afternoon, the mob turned on Eko once again.

“They set Eko’s boat on fire,” Aan said. “Eko fought back the angry mob, but he was surrounded and severely injured.”

He suffered a savage beating and was left bleeding. Local residents brought Eko to a nearby hospital in Balung, where he died later that day.

Police arrested Romli, a member of the mob, in connection with Eko’s death, according to reports on the Indonesian news portal VivaNews.

Aan urged police to arrest all those responsible for Wednesday’s violence.

“They should just arrest whomever is responsible for the murder and attack,” he said, “No matter which group they came from.



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