RSI - Radio Singapore International, July 17, 2007
Separatist protest in Indonesia's Maluku province
Indonesian authorities have removed the military chief of Maluku province, Major
General Sudarmaidy, after a surprise separatist protest took place in front of the
president there last month.
An Indonesian military spokesman said that Major General Sudarmaidy's removal had
already happened last week, but declined to comment on whether this removal was
linked to the protest.
The protest involved a group of traditional dancers who slipped past security to unfurl
an outlawed flag in front of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the provincial
capital of Ambon.
The dancers had displayed the flag of the South Maluku Republic, crushed by Jakarta
shortly after it was declared in 1950.
To find out more about this recent protest, Jason Tan spoke with Dr. Stephen
Sherlock (SS) from the Center for Democratic Institutions in Canberra, Australia.
SS: Well the reasons for the events in Maluku relate to long-standing feelings of
uniqueness, and sometimes desire for, separatism in the areas of Maluku. They date
back to the time of the independence movement and have continued on for many
years after. But of course these days, there are very few people in Maluku who
actually support any sort of separatism even though they really want to maintain
some sort of particular identity.
What has been the Indonesian government's response to this protest?
SS: Well unfortunately the Indonesian government has over-reacted in an extreme
manner to these events. They relate to a tendency on the part of the Indonesian state,
particularly the Javanese elements and the military elements, who regard any
expression of particular identity in any areas of Indonesia as somehow being a threat
to the unity and integrity of Indonesia.
Major General Sudarmaidy was removed as military chief of Maluku last week. Was
his removal directly linked to this protest?
SS: Well it's hard to know sometimes, the intricacies of military employment in
Indonesia. But it would seem to be a reasonable surmise to think that the two things
are connected.
Protesters had displayed the flag of the South Maluku Republic - which was crushed
by Jakarta shortly after being declared in 1950. Why has this separatist movement
resurfaced?
SS: Well in a sense the separatist movement has never gone away, but I think it's
important to understand that the number of people who still hold any sort of idea that
the islands would break away from Indonesia is infinitesimally small. It's an absolutely
tiny minority of the people who have any thought that they could possibly break away
from Indonesia. But from time to time, these groups do surface because there does
remain a small number of people who continue to hold to these ideas. But I think the
thing that is important to remember is that a display like that is not necessarily an
indication of any serious intent to break away from Indonesia. It's merely more likely
to be just an expression of defiance, if you like, at those elements in the central
government in Jakarta who refuse to acknowledge the right of the various parts of
Indonesia to express their individual identity. We need to remember just how diverse
the archipelago of Indonesia is and how many people feel that although they may
want to be part of Indonesia, they still have the right and the desire to maintain some
sort of sense of separate identity as well.
How sensitive is Jakarta to separatist sentiment occurring anywhere in the country?
SS: Jakarta is extremely sensitive and this is part of the problem. The military in
particular over-reacts. You only have to look at the different responses or different
ways of dealing with the Aceh problem which has been shown recently. The central
government's response to the long-standing demand for autonomy or independence in
Aceh changed in recent years, and it was based on the idea that it was possible to
recognize a particular identity in Aceh while still having Aceh as part of Indonesia.
That approach has, we could almost say, been solved as a result of that change in
strategy. But this response of over-reacting tends to inflame separatist movements,
rather than keep them down.
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