Remembering the gang rapes of May 1998

In this article, “Remembering the gang rapes of May 1998”, Andy Fuller introduces key Indonesian Sastra Koran (newspaper literature) as indirect commentary on the brutalities of the May 1998 Riots of Indonesia some 20 years ago. Through the stories of Seno Gumira Ajidarma, a renowned critic of state-based violence, readers are able to access the forgotten tales of victims and perpetrators in the horrific massacre and rape.

Till today, the issue of victim reparation in the May 1998 riots have largely fallen to the wayside, and many fear that “collective amnesia” will set in as the government persists in denying these historical realities. While advocacy rights continue to be championed by Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Violence against Women), the fear instilled in the victims through death threats have made victim confession scant. Along with the narrow scope of sexual harassment legislation, the lack of representation on the large-scale violence has made persecuting potential perpetrators exceedingly difficult.

In this increasingly factitious world, many fear that Indonesia’s blatant denial of its complicity in the riots potentially risks driving a bigger wedge between Indonesians and Indonesian-Chinese in the nation. This, some predict, is fertile ground for a modern-day May 1998 riot that could potentially risk millions more.  

Comments:

What could be interesting is to view the May 1998 Riots as a product of colonialism, and to consider its implications in the state-formation narratives of Indonesia. Discrimination of the Indonesia Chinese had begun in the 1740s when the Dutch East India Company started to colonize the land. In the complex inter-play between the community’s growing economic prowess and their lack of acceptance both within the Dutch and Indigenous communities, the Chinese has had a long history of persecution on the land. While many rights and freedoms are allocated to the Indonesian-Chinese today, the anxieties that remain as vestiges of decades of propagandistic and fear-based conditioning by the local government, still continues to play out in modern Indonesia today. Can a nation re-craft its state narrative in the presence of such a long history of violence? That still remains to be seen.

References:

1. http://www.insideindonesia.org/remembering-the-gang-rapes-of-may-1998
2. https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/20-years-later-victims-of-indonesias-may-1998-riots-are-still-waiting-for-justice/
3. https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/vv5jab/hundreds-of-women-were-raped-during-the-may-98-riots-will-they-ever-see-justice