Paper Edition | Page: 9
As Yogyakarta develops and becomes Indonesia’s second
most-popular tourist destination after Bali, the city that is dubbed the
heart of Javanese culture is also witnessing its service sector
growing, as can be seen in the emergence of numerous nightspots.
Such nightspots have led to the birth of private security services, referred to as preman (thugs) or premanisme (thuggery).
“Indications
are that preman groups are indeed here. Their existence is evident,
especially in public places such as markets and bus terminals,” chief of
the 0734 Military District Command (Kodim) overseeing Yogyakarta city,
Lt. Col. Ananta Wira, said.
Following a recent raid on Cebongan
Penitentiary by a group of commandos from the Army’s Special Forces
(Kopassus), who assassinated four suspects that were detained for
murdering a former Kopassus operative, criminal activities are sharply
decreasing.
“We do not know for sure whether they are cooling down or perhaps preman just disappeared after the raid,” said Ananta.
Premanisme
in Yogyakarta is believed to date back to the 1970s with the birth of
gangs in a number of villages in the city. Such groups usually run
businesses ranging from security, debt collecting to gambling. Their
main customers are mostly the management of nightspots.
Years
later, preman groups comprised of migrants also began to emerge. They
are normally referred to according to their places of origin, leading
people to cynically dub Yogyakarta “the city of preman”.
The New Indonesian People’s Movement (GRIB), which claims that many of its members are preman, refuses such labeling.
“GRIB
was indeed established by Hercules, a former preman. However, we will
not defend members who are involved in crime,” said Waljito, chairman of
GRIB’s Sleman branch.
Admitting that some GRIB members worked as
security guards, Waljito insisted that GRIB was not a group of preman
but instead accommodated marginalized and suppressed groups.
Chairman
of the Yogyakarta city branch of the Young Generation of the
Communication Forum of the Children of Members and Retirees of TNI-Polri
(GM FKPPI), Simon Nugroho, said that violence in Yogyakarta occurred
simply because of friction among different groups of people, with
Yogyakarta being a microcosm of Indonesia.
“There are students
from various regions studying here, which sometimes lead to friction
among them. It is not premanisme,” he said.
“Premanisme is
mistakenly understood nowadays. Parking attendants and private security
guards are considered to be preman, while they are just working for a
living. ”
Chairman of the Security Core Command (Kotikam), Harun
Al-Rasyid, concurred, saying that as a provider of security services,
his organization always interacts with other mass organizations and
NGOs.
“We routinely communicate with each other to prevent
friction. That way misunderstandings that often lead to disputes can be
avoided,” he said.
Separately, Aprinus Salam of Gadjah Mada
University’s Center for Cultural Studies expressed disagreement that
Yogyakarta has developed into a preman city. “I feel safe living here
and so do other people,” he said.
He added that Yogyakarta had a
strong culture that was still effective in preventing the people from
easily committing violence. The fact that the NGO community was also
active in the city could as well further prevent the birth of preman
groups.
“If I may speak frankly, the most potential preman groups
are the groups that use religion or political affiliation as covers,”
Aprinus said.
Friction in the community, he said, was a consequence of the city’s being a microcosm of Indonesia.
JP/Slamet Susanto
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.