Resisting Disintegration in Post-Suharto Indonesia

▪ 2002

by Greg Fealy

      Since the fall of Suharto's authoritarian New Order regime in May 1998, Indonesia has undergone a number of dramatic changes. At the political level, there has been a rapid and rather chaotic transition to democracy, including a significant dismantling of state controls over social and political expression. At the same time, the level of communal violence and secessionist demands has risen sharply. Many observers have seen a link between the two processes and questioned whether a society as heterogeneous as Indonesia's can survive these fissiparous tendencies intact without a strong, even repressive, central government.

 For much of its independent history, Indonesia has been seen as a nation at high risk of disintegration. It has one of the world's most ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse populations. (See Map—>.) Among the groups dispersed across a sprawling archipelago of some 13,000 islands are the staunchly Muslim Acehnese in far-north Sumatra, Catholics of Flores and Timor in the east, the Hindu Balinese, and animists in Irian Jaya and Kalimantan. In the late 1940s and 1950s, regional rebellions broke out on Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Ambon, most of which were put down militarily. Under Sukarno's Guided Democracy regime (1959–66) and Suharto's New Order (1967–98), tight central control was imposed over the regions and separatist tendencies were suppressed, often harshly.

      The rise in communal conflict and secessionist pressures since Suharto's downfall has led to renewed speculation about Indonesia's possible breakup. The former Portuguese colony of East Timor, effectively annexed by Indonesia in 1975, seceded in 1999. Separatist activity in Aceh and Irian Jaya—both of which have had long-standing independence movements—has grown rapidly in scope and popular support, prompting a forceful response from Indonesian security services. Aceh has experienced by far the worst violence. Separatist rebels there have been conducting a bloody guerrilla war against Indonesian forces and by 2001 controlled large areas of the rural hinterland. It is estimated that since 1999 more than 2,000 people have died, victims not only of the fighting but also of brutality by the Indonesian police and army as well as by the rebels. Armed conflict in Irian Jaya is far more sporadic, but military intervention and intimidation of pro-independence groups are common. Secessionist calls have also emerged from several other provinces, including Riau, South Sulawesi, and Bali, but these are aimed at pressuring the central government and do not have serious separatist intent. Even so, the use of such appeals shows that the earlier taboo on separatist rhetoric no longer applies.

      The most severe nonseparatist violence has taken place in the Maluku archipelago, where a virtual civil war has been waged between Christian and Muslim communities since early 1999. More than 5,000 people have lost their lives in this bitter conflict, and over 500,000 have been displaced. In Kalimantan, tensions between indigenous Dayaks and Madurese internal migrants have led to a series of massacres of Madurese since 1997. In a violent outbreak in February 2001, some 500 Madurese were killed and roughly 100,000 fled to other regions. In addition to this, there has been an upsurge in attacks on places of worship across the nation. During the New Order, an average of 14 churches were attacked each year; the figure since 1998 has been about 140 per annum, in addition to the damage inflicted on scores of mosques.

      While these events represent a serious challenge to Indonesia's cohesion, there are strong grounds for arguing that the nation is not in imminent danger of breakup. Despite Indonesia's diverse population, commitment to national unity is strong across most regions and sections of society, judging by responses to the loss of East Timor and separatist calls in Aceh and Irian Jaya.

      Ethnic and religious animosities are clearly important factors in communal and separatist unrest, though closer examination of Indonesia's social composition and dynamics suggests that most Indonesians accept diversity as an essential element of their national character. Ethnographers disagree on exactly how many ethnic groups exist in Indonesia, but most estimates put the number at about 200. There are no accurate figures on the size of each ethnic group, though some indication of ethnicity can be gained from census statistics on the “mother tongue” of citizens. The most recent available census data (1995) suggest that the main ethnic groupings are Javanese (about 40% of the population), Sundanese (14%), Madurese (4%), and Batak, Bugis, Banjarese, and Balinese (each less than 2%). There are also diasporas of Chinese (3%) and Arabs, South Asians, and Europeans (each less than 1%). Javanese are the most widely dispersed and politically dominant group, with four of Indonesia's five presidents having been Javanese. The Chinese, though a small minority, are economically dominant and constitute the wealthiest ethnic group.

      Indonesia has five “officially recognized” religions. Islam is by far the largest; according to the 1990 census, it was the faith of 87% of Indonesians. This makes Indonesia the world's largest Muslim nation. The minority religions are Catholicism (6%), Protestantism (3%), and Hinduism and Buddhism (each less than 1%). In addition, animism is widely practiced among more traditional communities.

      Indonesia's dispersion of ethnic and religious groups is highly complex. There are few restrictions on internal migration, and Indonesians have proved highly mobile in pursuing career or commercial opportunities outside their home provinces. The large cities are especially heterogeneous. This has led to extensive intermarriage between ethnic groups and, to a much lesser extent, religious groups (strict rules apply to marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims). Most urban Indonesians live or work in environments that are ethnically and religiously mixed. Before the upsurge in communal violence, Indonesia enjoyed a reputation for tolerance and pluralism, and the great majority of the population still coexists in relative harmony.

      Ethnic and religious tensions, although important elements in social conflict and separatism, are seldom the only factors. Often there are deep-seated social, economic, or political issues that take on an ethnic or religious expression. A key driver of divisive tendencies has been that of socioeconomic grievance. This has been most evident in Aceh and Irian Jaya, both of which are rich in natural resources but receive from the central government only a small percentage of the wealth extracted from their provinces. Infrastructure and government services and facilities are poor in both regions, and employment opportunities in local oil and mineral developments have been limited. New regional autonomy laws should result in a significant rise in the share of revenue going to these and other resource-rich provinces. The greater political autonomy flowing from these laws should also ease resentment toward Jakarta.

      The violence in Maluku and Kalimantan also has an economic dimension. Malukan Christians have been angered by what they see as Muslim encroachment into traditionally Christian-dominated sectors of the economy and also by a perceived Islamization of local government. The Dayaks in Kalimantan have felt marginalized by Madurese settlers taking over their traditional lands and depriving them of positions in the local economy and bureaucracy.

      Another important factor in provoking unrest and separatist demands has been large-scale human rights abuses by the security services. In both Aceh and Irian Jaya, police and military brutality has alienated large sections of the community against Jakarta's rule and played a major role in galvanizing support for the independence cause.

      Indonesia's ethnic and religious complexities are not, in themselves, inherently destabilizing elements. They can, however, in combination with other grievances, add to the country's volatility. Appropriate government responses in addressing economic disparities, political disenfranchisement, and human rights abuses by military and police could do much to reduce regional and intracommunal tensions. Furthermore, there is no a priori reason why a democratizing and decentralizing Indonesia should be less stable than an authoritarian and centralizing one. In fact, many of Indonesia's current problems derive from the excesses of the Suharto regime.

Greg Fealy is a research fellow in Indonesian history at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.

* * *