Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia

facilitating intellectuals to contribute to indonesia

Archive for May 25th, 2010

Anniversary of Indonesian riots spurs talk of pluralism

without comments

Butterflies by Salvador Dali

by Jennie S. Bev

San Francisco, California – This month marks the 12th anniversary of a critical event in recent Indonesian history – the May 1998 riots. Following the death of four university students who were participating in a protest to demand the resignation of President Suharto, people took to the streets, rioting and looting.

Though many claim the riots were a result of frustration with the current regime and mass unemployment, the ethnic Chinese Indonesian community quickly became a target of mob violence, including reports of nearly 100 Chinese Indonesian women being raped. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Beni Bevly

May 25th, 2010 at 1:54 pm