Religion and Violence?

LEYAKET ALI MOHAMED OMAR
History of Religion Part 2- Prof Bernard Adeney- Risakotta and Prof Margana
Readings are from : Robert Cribb- The Indonesian Killing of 1965-66 and Robert W. Hefner- Politics and Social Identity

Cribb states that the 1965 killings were carried out using simple implements such as knives, machetes, and guns. There were no gas chambers such as those that were used by the Nazis in the slaughter of the Jews and many other groups. And those who were executed were not taken far before being killed; usually they were killed near their homes. Another feature of the killings is that they were usually carried out at night. The killings of the PKI were not carried out systematically; the pattern varied from one region to another. The ways of disposing the body was also inhuman in such a way that they do not show any sense of mercy.

He also mentions of the numerous ways to count the number of victims, in this line I think these statistics are cold numbers and it only account for a little understanding of the critical so called pain and lost. It does not represent the emotional impacts of being gripped with fear or the disgust at seeing people killed or raped. The widespread psychological and cultural impacts of the killings have never been measured in any systematic way, despite the long-term consequences of 1965 for Indonesian society or for that matter any massacre. This also stimulates further questioning: why didn’t the security forces (if any) try to intervene to prevent such widespread slaughter? One certainly gets the impression that the violence was allowed to happen. After all, this meant eliminating the group that had been involved in power struggles with the military.

It is interesting to see the process of seeking to eradicate PKI members and sympathisers was completed relatively quickly, in just a matter of months. Look at the Nazis as an example of mass killing comparison. It needed many years, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia four years, to do the similar work. Comparing both the similar kind of militant several factors contributes to the possibilities for the wiping out of PKI quickly. I think firstly, the conflict between communist and non-communist groups, particularly the kyais, had been evident since early in the decade. Second, the military is suspected of playing a role in motivating the masses to commit violence. Third, the mass media, under the control of the military, deliberately provoked the public’s rage.

The basic assumption of religion being the cause of violence will never prevail no matter what and how the proving statements can be. The fact is; there is no religion that preaches to any cause of unnecessary violence such as the mentioned account. Thus, history has always been a great learning subject to learn the pattern of a society then and now. Working in parallel, its people might want to take great lessons not to repeat its unpleasant history of great civilisation that had gone astray due to violence. Perhaps, through this episode of violence personally I understood that Indonesian, being a multi-cultural and multi-ethnicity society and religions must be familiar and resort to diplomatic discussion and engagement in the road to tolerance and open view of the society, mainly its minority.