The Murder Of A Family In Sigi Is Unrelated To SARA

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the murder of four residents in Sigi, Central Sulawesi by the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) group led by Ali Kalora was not a tribal war or even a religion.

President Jokowi and the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD explicitly stated that this action was carried out solely to provoke in order to divide the unity in society.

In a video posted on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account on Monday, November 30, Jokowi strongly condemned the actions of MIT led by Ali Kalora, which apart from committing murder, they also burned and took food from the victim's house, namely 40 kilograms of rice.

"I strongly condemn the actions that were beyond humanitarian and uncivilized, which caused four of our brothers to die in the violence that occurred in Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi," said Jokowi.

Ali Kalora, cs, continued Jokowi, was considered to be deliberately carrying out this action as a form of terror and provocation in order to break the unity and integrity in society.

"This barbaric act is clearly aimed at creating provocation and terror among people who want to destroy unity and harmony among the nation's citizens," he said.

Separately, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD asked that acts of violence committed by MIT be not linked to a particular religion. This is because the actions taken by Ali Kalora were not related to the racial conflict.

"This incident is not a tribal war let alone a religion. This incident was carried out by a crime group called MIT which is led by Ali Kalora and cannot be called representing a particular religion," Mahfud said at a press conference at his office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.

This act of murder, he continued, was an attempt of terror to create an atmosphere that did not lead to chaos and division. So, to prevent this, the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) asked religious leaders to convey a message of peace in the community.

"Because, in fact, any religion is present in this world to build peace and brotherhood," he said.

The Director of the Community of Ideological Islamic Analyst (CIIA) Harits Abu Ulya agreed that the murder of four people who were still one family was not related to the issue of SARA as conveyed by the provocateurs in order to confuse the situation. Moreover, the victims were not only targeting a certain group or religion.

"In the context of the latest case (MIT, red) it is not related to the issue of SARA because the victims have been random. There are Hindus, Muslims, and the latest is Christian," said Harits when contacted by VOI, Tuesday, December 1.

He considered that these four people could have been killed because Ali Kalora, cs, was strongly suspected of being an informant who leaked their whereabouts to law enforcement officials. "So it has nothing to do with clashes between religious communities," he said.

Not only that, MIT's actions are also very unlikely to trigger acts of intolerance in the community, especially those who often follow and understand the issue of terrorism, especially in the Poso area. Even if there is an issue like this, the community must be able to unite because this issue is deliberately raised by the people who are the stove.

"If people understand how the terrorism case or issue in Poso in recent years will be difficult to accept if (this action, ed) is linked to the issue of intolerance," he said.

Previously reported, the terror act carried out by the MIT group led by Ali Kalora took place on Friday, November 27 at around 09.00 WITA and reportedly reached the police at 13.00 WITA. This incident occurred in Lemban Tongoa Village, Palolo District, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi.

From this incident, there were four victims who were declared dead by the police.

"The four victims were named Yasa, Pinu, Naka, and Pedi. These four people were Ulin's family who were witnesses to the reporting," said the Head of Public Relations of the Central Sulawesi Police, Kombes Didik Suparnoto when contacted by reporters, Saturday, November 28.

Based on the testimony of an eye witness, named Ulin, the MIT group led by Ali Kalora came to Ulin's house in Lemban Tongoa Village and took the Ulin family hostage who managed to escape.

Ulin's father, Yasa, and Ulin's husband, Pinu, were killed by this group. Meanwhile, the cause of the deaths of Naka and Pedi is unknown. Meanwhile, Yasa's wife, Nei, survived despite experiencing a number of injuries on her body. After carrying out the action, the perpetrators took 40 kilograms of rice and burned six houses around the murder site.