ZENIT News Services, 2004-04-28
Moluccas Strife Has Political Roots, Says Bishop
He Doesn't See It as a Religious Conflict
JAKARTA, Indonesia, APRIL 28, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Politics rather than religion lies at
the roots of the conflict that erupted again this week in the Molucca Islands, says the
bishop of Ambon.
"I am not so sure about it being an interreligious confrontation" between Muslims and
Christians, Bishop Pietro Mandagi told the AsiaNews agency.
"Better to say that the confrontations taking place are between a group that supports
the integrity of the Indonesian territory and a group of separatists that wants to revive
the South Moluccas Republic and the Sovereignty Moluccas Front," said the bishop
of the Moluccas capital in the Indonesia archipelago.
On Sunday, the Sovereignty Moluccas Front staged a rally to mark the 54th
anniversary of the failed independence bid of the South Moluccas Republic. The
bishop said some groups used the rally as the moment to spread terror and violence.
"I don't know what their objective is by sparking this brutal tragedy," Bishop Mandagi
said. Four days of violence have left 36 dead and more than 150 wounded.
Arson has destroyed hundreds of homes and reduced to ashes the Nazareth
Protestant Church and the recently restored Indonesian Christian University Muluku,
destroyed four years ago during similar confrontations, AsiaNews reported.
According to the agency of the Pontifical Foreign Missionary Works, some political
analysts in Jakarta see behind the Ambon confrontations a "grand strategy" among
high military personnel to stir up trouble before the July 5 presidential elections.
"They make trouble, rioting, in order to ensure that only a president with a military
background will be able to address the problems," a source speculated.
Yet, the confrontations are also fueling religious tensions, said AsiaNews. On
Tuesday, thousands of Muslims of Solo, central Java, organized a protest in support
of Ambon's Muslims.
Christian and Muslim religious leaders have condemned the violence, which is taking
place in the aftermath of a similar conflict that broke out between 1999 and 2002,
which left more than 5,000 dead.
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