Sampang Shiites Removed as Thousands Appear Outside Refuge
Inside the temporary shelter for Muslim Shiites in Sampang. On June 20, police forcibly resettled around 160 people staying in the shelter. (AFP Photo)
A fatal mob attack on a community in East Java that displaced 160 Shiite Muslims took another turn today when authorities began their forcible resettlement after more than 1,000 people appeared outside their refuge under the direction of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI).
"[Wednesday] afternoon at 3 p.m., Sampang deputy district head Fadhilah Budiono, Sampang police chief and East Java Political and National Unity Office came to the sports center and asked [the Shiites] to leave Sampang sport center and live in Sidoarjo," Herstaning Ikhlas, a lawyer representing the affected group, said on Thursday.
It is understood that the matter was the subject of a discussion in Jakarta between House of Representative Speaker Marzuki Alie, East Java governor Sukarwo and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto.
The decision for the Shiites to be relocated on Thursday was reached on Wednesday night.
Herstaning told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that the local government had asked the Shiites to move to apartments in Sidoarjo, more than 100 kilometers away, or three-to-four-hours drive from their hometown in Blu'uran and Karanggayam, Sampang district.
Herstaning said the Shiites had responded to the news by shouting "We want to go home! We want to go home!"
Sampang Police accompanied by Brimob officers then oversaw the removal of the 160 from the sports center.
Herstaning confirmed that he had spoken with one of the 160 and had been told they were en route to Sidoarjo, while Agus, a lawyer of Universalia Legal Aid Foundation said, "Police are taking them on buses and trucks to the relocation place in Sidoarjo."
National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said 2,000 police officers had been assigned to police the area. He said that no-one had been injured in the resettlement operation.
Today's events are another chapter in a long and complicated dispute that has divided opinion on its central cause.
In August last year, a mob of 500 Sunni Muslims attacked a group of Shiite students and teachers with swords and machetes in the village of Nangkernang, in Sampang district.
Two Shiites, Hamama and Tohir, were killed, and seven others were injured. The mob also torched dozens of homes belonging to Shiite residents. They have been sheltered in the sports center ever since.
Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi has previously said that the attack was more a case of warring families than a case of religious intolerance.
"The Sampang incident is a purely criminal case that developed out of a family conflict and later gained momentum within the local community," Gawaman said at the time. "It is not an anti-Shiite situation."
The presence of the Indonesian Ulema Council does, however, appear instructive that the situation has mutated into one that encompasses religious differences. Indonesian Ulema Council Sampang chapter head Buchori Ma'sum said the mass prayer outside the sports center was held in support of the resettlement plan.
"It's for them to get a better place to live," Buchori said as quoted by Hidayatullah.com.
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