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Indonesia is sliding into darkness. The Nov. 22 killings were a first for Jakarta, but since late summer there have been more than 250 lynchings across the archipelago. The killings seem to be a product of fear, economic frustration and a breakdown of law and order as security forces are withdrawn from the provinces to cover demonstrations in the cities. In Sumatra recently a man was beaten and burned alive because he couldn't tell suspicious residents the precise address of a relative he was visiting. "The reality principle is breaking down," says Professor Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono of the University of Indonesia. "The more people see that they can murder without facing any consequences, the more it becomes part of the culture."
It is a culture for which Suharto, Indonesia's dictator of 32 years, bears much responsibility. Six months ago Suharto was ousted, leaving behind a weak successor as President--B.J. Habibie--a paralyzed economy, a military discredited for killing student demonstrators and a nation struggling to find some vision of its future. As the lynchings increase, many suspect that some in the military and political establishment are promoting a politics of chaos to turn the clock back, away from the students' demands for greater democracy and a reduction in the power of the army. There is a precedent, and it is horrific: General Suharto came to power in 1966 as a man who reasserted order--but only after 18 months of anarchy and slaughter that left some 500,000 Indonesians dead.
President Habibie has further inflamed matters by courting Muslim extremists in an attempt to boost his power for the elections promised for next June. Muslims make up 87% of Indonesia's population of 210 million. Kept in check under Suharto's rule, a number of Muslim groups have now emerged to lay claim to political and economic power. Early last month Muslim youth vigilantes armed with sharpened bamboo spears were positioned around Jakarta to harass pro-democracy student demonstrators. Last week pictures of the former Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatullah Khomeini began to appear in street demonstrations. Though there have always been attacks against Indonesia's small but powerful Chinese community, the new attacks are taking on a dangerous religious character. "It's the most dangerous thing--the abuse of religion for political ends," says Enoch Markum, president of the Indonesian Psychologists Association. "Once people have moved into this irrational territory, it's difficult to bring them back to rationality."
It may have already gone too far. In the bloody alleyways of Pembangunan I, the way back to rationality seemed all but lost.
--With reporting by David Liebhold/Jakarta