Study tour Indonesia 2007

The Riot 171

On January the 17th in 2000, there was a riot in Mataram. 21 churches and more than 400 houses and shops were either burned or destroyed. Fortunately nobody got killed, but more than 4000 people escaped. The riot begun with the Tablihg (public speaking) hosted by some Islamic institutions like NU, Muhammadiyah, ICMI and Amphibi. The Tablihg was dedicated to Muslims in Ambon that had been oppressed by Christians. Listening to the Tuan Guru’s speaking about solidarity, the listeners became angry and they expressed this by destroying the neighbouring church. During short time, the action was accelerated to everywhere and it resulted in churches, shops, houses and schools being burned.

The public opinion on 171 (as it is often referred to) is that this riot was a big tragedy and that they never want this chaos again. The government, the community and religious leaders from different religions met to discuss the situation. Reconciliation was made and they agreed about the fact that violence is the enemy of all religions. This resulted in the establishment of an inter-religious forum named FKUB, The community developed toleration and Tuan Guru’s and other religious leaders worked together to promote peace. Together with encouraging pluralism and get rid of economic monopoly, education is looked upon as important to avoid new conflicts.