Pacific Affairs: An International Review of Asia and the Pacific

Volume 75, No. 1

 

Legacies of the Authoritarian Past: Religious Violence in Indonesia's Moluccan Islands
By Jacques Bertrand

 

Abstract

In January 1999, sudden and surprising violence broke out between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's Moluccan islands (Maluku). Three factors explain the sources of violent conflict: unresolved questions over principles of the nation; patrimonial relations under authoritarian institutions that reinforced group identities; and rapid democratic transition.

I argue that the conflict has its roots in the mid-1980s and 1990s when Suharto shifted to Islamic groups for political support. This change increased tensions between Christians and Muslims in Maluku because it created uncertainties about the civic form of nationalism at the basis of the Indonesian state and the future role of Islam.

Patrimonial features reinforced group identities and exacerbated tensions, as positions in the civil service were major sources of material resources and protection. Christians saw their interests threatened and Muslims saw possibilities of redressing past imbalances.

Rapid democratic transition in this context was also destabilizing. It directly threatened established patrimonial networks and intensified the uncertainties surrounding the role of Islam in the state. Muslims were concered that Christians might reassert their regional dominance while Christians feared an erosion of their status in a state more strongly inclined to favour its large Muslim majority.

The article analyzes the events leading up to the eruption of conflict and the subsequent unfolding of violence between January 1999 and June 2000, including the beginning of the violence in Ambon and its spread to North and South Maluku.