The Jakarta Post, October 19, 2004
Fresh violence erupts in Mamasa, one killed
Andi Hajramurni and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Bandung
After two days of relative calm, violence broke out again in Aralle district, Mamasa
regency, killing one man and injuring another. The incident occurred at 10 a.m when
some 300 Christians supporting the split of Polewali Mamasa regency into two
regencies attacked those who opposed the split in the mountainous Aralleana
subdistrict, Aralle district, Mamasa regency, West Sulawesi province.
The attack was an apparent retaliation after scores of Christian houses and a church
was burned down at dawn on Saturday in Aralle district.
Two residents opposing the split, Suharman and Usman, sustained severe stab
wounds, according to chief of South Sulawesi Police Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf, who also
oversees the newly established West Sulawesi province. Suharman died later at a
local hospital.
The death of Suharman brought the total victims in the spate of violence that began on
Saturday to three.
Saleh said that police personnel were immediately dispatched to Aralle, some 400
kilometers from the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, to defuse the situation.
Upon arriving in the scene, hundreds of personnel with the elite police unit the Mobile
Brigade quickly dispersed the attackers. Outnumbered and ill-equipped, the attackers
fled to the jungle.
In order to prevent further fatalities, the police are focusing on guarding several
housing complexes whose residents oppose the split of Polewali Mamasa into two
regencies: Polewali Mamasa and Mamasa regencies, said Saleh.
The two-star general explained that the police were also tracking down 12 people
suspected of being responsible for the renewed conflict in Mamasa regency.
Currently, almost 400 soldiers and police personnel are stationed in Aralle district to
keep the security situation in check in the area.
The fresh violence on Monday was the third after a law was passed two years ago,
which split Polewali Mamasa into two regencies. The split drew strong protests from
the predominantly Muslim districts of Aralle, Tabulahan and Mambi, who feared that
they would be a minority in the new predominantly Christian regency of Mamasa.
Besides the issue of religion, the residents in the three districts also objected to the
split on the grounds that the three districts were much closer to Polewali Mamasa
regency. They complained that it would be efficient in term of bureaucracy and the
economy if the three districts remained under the territory of Polewali Mamasa
regency. But, the protest fell on deaf ears after the central government threw its
weight behind the passing of the law that split Polewali Mamasa into two.
After prolonged protests, violence broke out in September last year, killing three.
Violence broke out again on Saturday, killing two.
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