Bagus BT. Saragih, Jakarta – Members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) clashed with demonstrators from the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) in the Dukuh Atas area on Jl. Sudirman in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta on Thursday March 29.
Scores of people suffered minor injuries and one person was seriously hurt in the clash. Police meanwhile have detained five people suspected of being provocateurs. One of those seriously injured was Ahmad Sobari from the FPI who suffered cuts to their neck after being hit by glass. He is now being treated at the Tarakan Public Hospital in Central Jakarta.
As of late this afternoon, four people had been detained by the Tanah Abang sectoral police and one other, FPI militia member Mohamad Rofik was detained by the Central Jakarta district police.
The clash itself took place at around 10.30am when a convoy of Papernas demonstrators heading towards the Proclamation Monument encountered a group of FPI and FBR members in Dukuh Atas.
According to one eyewitness, Iwan, the FPI and FBR members had been marching around the area near the Hotel Indonesia roundabout since morning. “They brought weapons, wooden and metal truncheons. There were some who brought sickles”, said the motorbike taxi driver who is usually based at Dukuh Atas when speaking with Media Indonesia.
A clash was clearly unavoidable. The FPI and FPI members greeted the Papernas demonstrators with a hail of rocks. The Papernas members, the majority of whom were housewives and small children ran and scattered trying to save themselves. “The fled into the alleyways”, said eyewitness Ibut.
Even though the Papernas demonstrators retreated the angry FPI and FBR members continued to pursue them shouting, “You’re PKI! [Indonesian Communist Party] You’re PKI!”.
A short time later around 400 Papernas members riding three Mayasari Bakti busses arrived. This time most of them were men.
Seeing that their colleagues were under attack, the newly arrived Papernas members immediately began chasing after the FPI and FBR members. “Counter attacked it was the FPI’s turn to be chased”, continued Iwan.
The FPI and FBR members were eventually forced back as far as the Shangri-La Hotel on Jl. Karet Pasar Baru Timur alongside the West Flood Canal River around 500 meters from where the clash first broke out.
The Papernas demonstrators who had not brought any weapons used broken pieces of glass from the damaged buses which they threw at the FPI and FBR. “Many suffered head injuries because of being hit by rocks and glass”, said Iwan.
The police arrived at around 11am. “Six hundred personnel were deployed from the Metro Jaya municipal police and the Central Jakarta district police”, said Tanah Abang Sectoral Police Chief Superintendent Budiyanto. Seeing the arrival of security personnel, the protesters disbanded at round 11.30am.
When asked to comment on the incident, FPI general secretary Irwan admitted that they stopped the Papernas convoy. “We asked them to turn back but they didn’t want to, yeah so we can’t be held responsible for what happened”, he said when contacted by Media Indonesia.
According to Irwan, the FPI mobilised as many as 700 people while the FBR mobilised around 1,200. This does not include people from 14 other mass organisations that were part of the coalition opposing the planned Papernas declaration at the Proclamation Monument.
Irwan said that they oppose Papernas because they are PKI. “I have read the statues and rules of association, and I also have evidence that they are PKI. We don’t want the country to be infiltrated by the PKI again”, he said. (*/OL-06)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
