The Jakarta Post, April 08, 2007
Peaceful solution to conflict cheaper: Kalla
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Finding a peaceful solution to conflict is a much cheaper option than launching
military operations, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Saturday.
In a public lecture on peaceful solutions to conflict at the Bandung Technology
Institute, Kalla said conflicts were generally triggered by injustice, not religious
tension.
In his speech he referred to the conflicts that rocked Poso in Central Sulawesi,
Ambon in Maluku and Aceh.
"In Poso, for instance, we might need less than Rp 1 trillion (US$108.6 million) to
reach a peaceful solution. The amount is similar to funding a one-year military
operation," Kalla said in front of some 200 students, lecturers and military personnel
at the lect! ure.
"What happens if this operation lasts 10 years?" he asked.
The lecture, held in cooperation with the British Defense Department and the
Indonesian government, was also attended by British Ambassador Charles Humfrey.
Aceh faced nearly three decades of conflict prior to the signing of a peace deal by the
government and the Free Aceh Movement in Helsinki in 2005. Ambon and Poso were
both rocked by sectarian bloodshed prior to respective peace deals that subdued
violence.
In Poso, he said, the conflict was catalyzed by direct democratic elections, ! which
opened the town up and prompted the electoral winner to "take all".
Previously, he said, a political balance had existed there -- when the regent was a
Christian, the deputy would be a Muslim and visa versa. "In that case, there was
harmony, but when democracy set in, suddenly, the winner decided to take all," Kalla
said.
Poso was the scene of bloody conflicts between Muslims and Christians between
2000 and 2001 that claimed more than 1,000 lives. Intense competition in the regental
election meant that the matter was turned into a religious issue.
"Once the matter became a religious issue, it couldn't stop just like that because
religious leaders feel there i! s a need for solidarity, selling (religion) at a cheaper price
to open up ways into heaven," he said.
He said that during the period of conflict in Poso, religious leaders, both Muslims and
Christians, told followers they could enter heaven by killing their opponents.
"So, from a competition to win the regent's seat, it became a competition between
religions, competition to get into heaven," Kalla said.
He said there is a need to expose the misunderstanding that if you kill your opponent,
you will go to heaven.
Killing, he said, is wrong and is a path t! o hell. "I've been asking both sides to show
me verses from the Koran or the Bible that say killing will take one to heaven (and
they can't)," he said.
Kalla's visit to the institute was protested by students over the freezing of campus
activities until 3:30 p.m.
Chairman of the institute's student executive body, Zulkaida Akbar, told Antara they
would ask the rector to explain the decision to stop campus activities.
"The main thing that makes us upset is the freezing of learning activities, forcing
some of our friends to do their tests outside the Salman mosque hall. Others had their
tests canceled, just like that," he said.
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