SBY's Sampang Visit Shuts Out Shiite Leaders: Advocates
Sunni Muslims torch a home in a wave of anti-Shia violence in Sampang, East Java, on Aug. 26, 2012. The government's plan to return the displaced Shia community home has been placed in the hands of those calling for their conversion, Shiite advocates say. (AFP Photo)
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Sampang, East Java, has done little to resolve long-simmering tensions between local Sunni and Shia Muslims, prominent Shiite advocates said on Thursday.
Yudhoyono was scheduled on Wednesday to attend a meeting of local leaders tasked with hashing out a lasting solution to Madura island's history of sectarian violence targeting the Shiite Muslim minority. Instead the meeting was marred by the same issues affecting the government's reconciliation team from the start: the lack of local Shiite leaders on the board.
"We were not invited, none of the victims was invited," said Hertasning Ichlas, a lawyer for the displaced Shiites in Sampang. "Ahlul Bait Indonesia (ABI) were not invited. He should at least talk to the three village chiefs in the conflict areas."
Yudhoyono and his staff met with Sampang government officials and Sunni ulema for a discussion with Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali. The minister is already seen as a controversial figure for local Shiites over his refusal to classify the violence as a religious conflict and his laissez-faire attitude toward allegations of forced conversions taking place on the island. The lack of Shiite representatives at a meeting meant to determine their future on Madura island further irked the displaced community's attorney.
"This team was not representative [of the island's population] since the beginning," Hertasning said. "They should have included Shiites. But it's understandable. The team was established by the Religious Affairs Minister and he only appointed those who shared his idea of forcing Shiites to convert."
The president told a delegation of displaced Shiites that he promised to return them to their homes by Idul Fitri. Months later, the Shiites have yet to return to Sampang. Herstasning sent a group of Shiite Muslims to their former villages to check on the progress of 50 homes slated for construction in the Shia-heavy village of Karang Gayam. What they found was troubling, he said.
"What housing construction?" Hertasning said. "Nothing has been built at all."
The long road to reconciliation
The government's plan to address sectarian tensions in Sampang, which boiled over in a violent riot in August of 2012 that left two dead and displaced hundreds, has been in discussion for months.
Some 80 families lived in cramped conditions at a squalid sports center until the local government forcibly relocated them to subsidized apartments in Sidoarjo, East Java — a location miles from their hometowns. They would be returned home, local officials said, once a reconciliation plan was completed.
The East Java government's plan is to construct 50 homes for Shiites from Karang Gayam. Local Sunni Muslims, who live in the area surrounding the village, would receive double that amount, 100 new government-built homes, in an effort to head-off further tension between the two groups.
"If we only built 50 units for [Shiite leader] Tajul Muluk , the others will be envious" East Java Governor Soekarwo said on Wednesday. "So, we'll build 100 units for the affected residents."
The provincial government allocated Rp 15 million ($1,245) per house and planned to complete construction by early next year, Soekarwo said. The displaced residents will be returned in three stages, structured as to their reported allegiance to their religion, he said.
"It will be divided into three classifications, the first one will be those who are not serious [about their religion], then the half-serious and finally the most serious ones will be returned as the last batch," he said.
Fear of forced conversions
The reconciliation team's efforts have been tainted by accusations of forced conversions to Sunni Islam since it was formed in August. The religious affairs minister said the plan hinged on the "enlightenment" of the Shia, a statement that religious tolerance groups say smacked of conversion.
"In the meeting it was agreed that the reconciliation would be based on the enlightenment of the refugees, so that there's a confluence of perception with regard to their religion," Suryadharma said. "This enlightenment process will be carried out where they are currently staying in Sidoarjo."
The minister declined to specify what he meant with "enlightenment" other than explaining that several recently "enlightened" families had been welcomed back into the community with open arms.
Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi denied the claim, explaining that nowhere in the government's plan did it call for forced conversions of Shiite Muslims.
"We have to check it first, I don't think there's such forced conversion," Gamawan said in August. "Belief is a human's relation with God. The government has nothing to do with forcing [people to convert to certain beliefs]."
Suryadharma later denied hearing reports of conversions on the island. There was a program to bring people's perceptions of religion to a common understanding he said, but never a policy of converting non-Sunnis.
"I don't know whether there were forced conversions," Suryadharma said. "What I know is there was a program for people to have common perception…"
The minister has long denied the nation's problems with religious intolerance, but admitted that differing interpretations of the teachings of the Koran have caused problems for some communities. Increased regulation of which religions are allowed in Indonesia would solve the problem, Suryadharma suggested.
"There's no problem between Islam and Christianity, between Hindu and Buddhism," he said. "They [Shiites] call themselves Muslim, but it's a different Islam, and it creates conflict. So [religious] freedom should be limited by regulation, and it should not be violated."
National promises, local problems
Yudhoyono's visit was trumpeted as a step toward drafting a lasting solution to Madura's sectarian strains. Now the affected parties aired doubts as to whether Yudhoyono seriously hoped to settle the issue.
"In the past Yudhoyono wanted us to believe his words," Hertasning said. "But now, in December, instead of fulfilling his promise, he handed the solution over to the Sampang district government, whose only thought is of converting us to Sunni Muslims.
"It's difficult to expect for a genuine reconciliation [from the Sampang government], to expect the returning refugees to move back home without conditions."
The Anti-Discrimination Islamic Network (JIAD) criticized Yudhoyono's reluctance to involve Shiite Muslims in the process in an open letter addressed to the president.
"Mr. President, in our opinion, your meeting with all stakeholders of Shia case in Sampang without the refugees is a show of arrogance and violation to the principals of inclusiveness and impartiality in conflict resolution," wrote Aan Anshori, a coordinator with JIAD. "A righteous leader should ensure the fair treatment of Shiites in the dialogue meant to return the displaced Shiites [to their homes]."
More than 30 Shiites have been converted to Sunni Islam on the threat of violence in Sampang, local leaders reported. The community remains concerned that any plan to return the displaced residents to their homes will be damaged by threats and further attempts at conversion at the hands of the local government.
"We hope the president will keep his promise and help us return home," a Shiite leader said shortly after the commission was established. "As a leader he can make it come true.
"We only want to live in peace in our hometown."
Peace on the ground
If local government officials believe they are acting in accordance with the views of Sunni Muslims on Madura island, they are likely mistaken. The irony of the government's repeated insistence on shutting out Shiite leaders from the talks is that a contingent of Sunni Muslim already made peace with local Shia in a tearful meeting of the one-time enemies.
A group of 40 Sunnis traveled to the Puspo Argo apartments in Sidoarjo in late September and delivered a peace agreement signed by 73 members of the Sunni community in the most significant step toward ending the cycle of violence that has plagued Madura in recent years.
The conflict stems from a dispute between two brothers, one Sunni, one Shia, over a mutual love interest. That dispute, which would have normally been confined to blood ties, has been allowed to spin out of control and enflame long-standing resentment of the Shia community.
Now, after more than a year of back-and-forth regarding the fate of the homeless Shia, some local Sunnis have come around to see the conflict as little more than a political issue.
"They admitted that they had been tired of being provoked every week," Hertasning said after the meeting. "They finally came to realize that this is only a political game, not a religious issue. They realize that reconciliation is the right Islamic way to solve it."
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