Religion is no excuse for murder
(Letter, Jkt Post, 1 Feb 2007)

Once again Poso is in the news, and unfortunately not for something good.
There really are some idiots in this country. There are idiots in every country, but in the civilized world they don't get away with killing and maiming for very long.
Killing and maiming seems acceptable in Indonesia. I say this is because ordinary people hide the perpetrators of these crimes from the police, and not even because they are family members. Major religious organizations do not condemn these acts of murder either.
Since when has religion been a excuse to get away with murder?
It's about time the religious leaders take action to stop these idiots in Poso. They are the only ones that can do it because the police are scared to go into the kampongs to arrest people.
Vin LomJakarta

Getting tough on Poso
Hyginus Hardoyo, Jakarta, Feb 1, 2007

Passions have cooled somewhat following an assurance by the government that the recent clash in Poso, Central Sulawesi, where 13 suspected militants were killed in a Jan. 22 gun battle with the police, was not religious in nature.
In a briefing to Muslim leaders at his residence on Saturday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the incident was simply part of a power struggle as the leaders of the conflict were officials in the local administration.
He further said that the government had tried hard to be fair in Poso, and not to favor either side.
It is worth noting here that this assurance shows a determination on the part of the government that it is trying to put things in their proper perspective.
Kalla's remarks have partly answered questions from the public, many of whom believe the security forces are unable and unwilling to thoroughly settle the conflict in Poso.
It has widely believed that indecisiveness on the part of the government has led to various clashes between the security forces and people in the conflict-torn city.
On repeated occasions, the police have failed to uncover the perpetrators and motives behind violent acts, which include bombings, shootings and murders.
Poso, which used to be famous for its pristine natural beauty, Palu and surrounding areas have been the scene of a series of bloody conflicts between Muslims and Christians that left some 1,000 people dead between 2000 and 2001.
The two opposing camps -- Christians and Muslims -- have accused law enforcers of bias in enforcing the peace deal.
The police began taking serious measures late last year to capture the people believed to be perpetuating the conflict. The police initially refrained from using force by asking these people to voluntarily surrender. Only one suspect complied with this request.
However, the resolution of the conflict in the area proceeded at a snail's pace due mainly to inconsistent law enforcement, as evident from the police decision to extend the deadline for the surrender of the suspects three times.
The unfavorable situation was worsened by the fact that the police made blunders, such as wrongful arrests or the use of excessive force in trying to solve cases of terrorism and violence.
A number of people were beaten, or even shot, based upon the belief that they were involved in the violence, but were later released as there was not enough evidence to charge them.
These unprofessional actions caused resentment against the law enforcers, who were sometimes also accused of involvement in the violence.
The Christian camp charged that last September's execution by the authorities of three Christian men convicted of carrying out a series of killings in Poso and Palu in 2000 was religiously motivated.
Speculation surfaced that the execution of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu came amid pressure from Muslims unhappy with the nationwide war on terror.
Tension reappeared with the deaths of the 13 alleged militants, who were killed in the wake of a crackdown on terror suspects believed to have perpetrated a string of murders and bomb attacks in Poso.
A group of Muslims later tried to portray the incident as a religious problem, namely, a fight against the Muslim world. In this context, Kalla's above mentioned announcement on the government's neutrality was timely.
A noted Muslim leader strongly supported the government's determination to be tough and neutral in its crackdown on militants suspected of fomenting the sectarian conflict in the region.
State Islamic University rector and scholar Komaruddin Hidayat said the government should not hold back against militants who mingled with civilians, using them as human shields.
"This is the time to enforce our laws against those who have hijacked Islam and use it to pursue their own agenda. As a result, the image of Islam has been tarnished," he said.
As the government's stance is already clear -- no compromise with armed groups that try to take on the nation's security forces -- it is now up to the police to hunt down all of the perpetrators of violence in Poso.
With such strong backing, there is no excuse for hesitation on the part of the police.
The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post.

Two Poso alleged rioters arrested in Poso
February 01, 2007

JAKARTA (JP): Police Thursday arrested two people allegedly involved in a religious conflicts in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso, a police officer said.
The two were arrested during the raid by anti-terror squad in a Poso city, Poso Police chief Adj. Comr. Mochtar Riyadi was quoted by Elshinta news radio as saying.
The two are identified as Bakri and Andi, who have become target of arrests for long time. Bakri gave up during the raid, but Andi tried to resist. Andi was hospitalized for his wound shots.
A total of 14, including a police officer, were killed during a gunbattle between police and suspected militants on Jan. 26. The incident occurred when the police raid a house, who was a hideout of suspected militants.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said that the police have violated human rights principle during the violence late last month, but the police said that the officers have carried out their jobs based on the right procedures. (**)

Komentar, 1 Feb 2007
Gunakan kapal, menyamar jadi nelayan
Laskar Jihad Menuju Poso, Polisi Siaga

Pascabentroknya Densus 88 plus Brimob melawan se-jumlah militan bersenjata, kini diperoleh laporan pulu-han laskar jihad sedang da-lam perjalanan menuju Poso dari Surabaya dengan meng-gunakan transportasi laut. Kabar mengkhawatirkan ini diakui Wakadiv Humas Mabes Polri, Brigjen Anton Bachrul Alam, Rabu (31/01). “Kami telah menutup selu-ruh pintu masuk ke Kota Poso dan sekitarnya. Langkah itu untuk mencegah masuknya pihak luar yang coba berbuat kacau di Kota Poso,” tegas An-ton seperti dilansir sinarha-rapan online. “Sekarang ini sudah tidak ada lagi ustadz dari Jakarta yang berkeliaran di Poso dan sekitarnya. Semuanya telah kami kuasai terutama di wi-layah Tanah Runtuh, Gebang Rejo dan Kayamanya,” tam-bah Anton.Sementara itu, diperoleh in-formasi tadi malam, laskar ji-had yang menuju Poso sudah berada di sekitar perairan Ma-kassar dengan menggunakan kapal yang berbeda-beda. Mereka dipimpin Jarot alias Abu Haedar, Irfan, Zulkar-nain, Yulianto, Suwondo dan Iswanto. Namun, belum dike-tahui pasti maksud kedata-ngan mereka ke Poso. Keenam orang tersebut ber-asal dari Yogyakarta dan Solo. Mereka menggunakan kapal-kapal kecil dan berkedok se-bagai nelayan dan akan turun di Makassar dan sekitarnya untuk selanjutnya ke Poso.Guna mengantisipasi ma-suknya personel laskar jihad ke Poso melalui Makassar dan sekitarnya, aparat mengawasi beberapa pelabuhan di Sula-wesi Selatan seperti Pelabu-han Bajoe (Bone), Awerange (Barru), Pelabuhan Palopo, Parepare dan beberapa pela-buhan yang diduga akan me-reka digunakan untuk ber-sandar.Kepala Penerangan Kodam (Kapendam) VII/Wirabuana Letkol (Inf) Amsal yang dihu-bungi di Makassar, membe-narkan informasi pergerakan sekelompok anggota laskar jihad ke Poso itu sebagai-mana dilansir kantor berita Antara. Di tempat terpisah, Sekretaris Majelis Ulama Indonesia Sulawesi Tengah (MUI Sulteng), Prof Dr Zainuddin Ali MAg, menilai bahwa hingga kini banyak orang salah mengartikan jihad dalam ajaran Islam, sehingga mereka terjebak dalam pemahaman keliru, bahkan membunuh orang secara sembarangan.“Membunuh orang tanpa hak tidak dibenarkan dalam ajaran Islam. Hanya Allah SWT yang kuasa mencabut nyawa manusia,” kata Ali, di Palu, Rabu, menanggapi ber-bagai aksi kekerasan di Poso yang mengatasnamakan jihad. Ia menjelaskan, jihad di za-man sekarang praktiknya tidak sama dengan jihad pada za-man Nabi Muhammad SAW.“Pada zaman Rasulullah Muhammad SAW sudah jelas musuhnya, yaitu orang kafir yang memerangi agama Islam. Sedangkan, saat ini sangat susah, sebab banyak orang menganut agama berbeda, tapi tidak saling memusuhi,” ujarnya.Guru Besar Ilmu Hukum Islam di Universitas Tadulako, Palu, itu mengemukakan bahwa pemahaman jihad oleh sejumlah orang dewasa ini sudah disalahtafsirkan, bahkan ada yang membunuh orang lain dilandasi nafsu semata, sehingga merugikan umat Islam secara keselu-ruhan. Dosen tamu Universi-tas Islam Negeri (UIN) Jakarta itu menilai, “Jihad yang tanpa rambu-rambu seperti itu ada-lah dosa besar, dan neraka ja-minannya.”Ia menambahkan, dewasa ini banyak orang mengaku menjadi “pejuang jihad” yang hanya mengandalkan pema-haman ayat Al-Quran sepo-tong-potong untuk dijadikan dasar, padahal seharusnya mereka memahami konsep jihad dengan berkonsentrasi pada proses pengembangan ajaran Islam, serta mem-bantu sesama umat manusia dalam berbuat kebaikan. “Pemaha-man seperti ini yang perlu ditumbuhkem-bangkan oleh para ustadz dan mubaligh di tanah air, agar tujuan negara kita mem-bangun masyarakat yang adil, aman, damai, dan sejah-tera dapat segera tercapai,” demikian Prof Ali.(shc/ihc/ant)

Komentar, 1 Feb 2007
Soal Jihad Sesat, Ba’asyir Minta Klarifikasi Ja’far

Abu Bakar Ba’asyir gerah di-tuding menebar ajaran jihad sesat oleh eks Panglima Las-kar Jihad, Ja’far Umar Thalib. Untuk itu, Ba’asyir ingin menemui Ja’far dan meminta klarifikasi atas pernyataan yang telah memojokkan diri-nya. “Ustad Abu Bakar Ba’asyir merasa perlu dalam waktu se-cepatnya untuk bertemu me-lakukan tabayun dengan Ustad Ja’far Umar Thalib se-hubungan pernyataan-per-nyataanya di media massa mengenai Ustadz Abu dan MMI terkait kasus Poso yang kembali memanas akhir-akhir ini.”Hal tersebut disampaikan penasihat hukum pribadi Ba’asyir, Mahendradatta, kepada wartawan di sela-sela menjadi salah satu narasum-ber dalam dialog bertema “Po-so Berdarah lagi, Mengapa?” yang diselenggarakan di Kantor Pusat Majelis Tafsir Al Qur’an (MTA) Solo, Selasa (30/01) malam lalu. Menurut Mahendra, klarifi-kasi itu perlu untuk dilaku-kan karena keduanya meru-pakan ulama panutan umat. Dengan klarifikasi langsung kepada pembuat peryataan, dalam hal ini Ja’far Umar Thalib, diharapkan semua silang pendapat yang terjadi akan dapat dinetralkan.Selama proses tersebut, lanjut Mahendra, Ba’asyir ti-dak akan memberikan per-nyataan atau penilaian apa-pun atas pernyataan Ja’far Umar Thalib, meskipun hal tersebut berpotensi merugi-kan kredibilitas pribadi Ba’asyir.“Ibaratnya orang yang bertepuk tangan, jika sebelah tangan tidak menyambut maka tidak akan ada bunyi tepukan. Sebab kalau terjadi tepuk tangan itu maka akan terjadi perang peryataan dua ulama, dan justru akan mengalihkan perhatian publik dari persoalan sebenarnya yang terjadi di Poso,” papar-nya seperti dikutip warta online detik.com.Mahendra enggan mem-berikan penilaian mengenai pernyataan Ja’far Umar Thalib yang menyudutkan posisi Ba’asyir tersebut. Mahendra berkali-kali mengelak membe-rikan komentar dengan hanya mengatakan, ”Wallahuallam. Saya juga perlu menjaga sikap karena beliau berdua adalah klien saya.”(dtc/*)