VIVAnews - 10 years ago today, on 19 January 1999, a massive inter-communal violence between Muslims and Christians broke out in Ambon and Maluku.
A petty fight between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim taxi driver in Ambon on 19 January 1999 soon turned into a large-scale inter-communal violence after both parties sought help from their fellow brethrens.
In just hours, the entire island was caught in a bloody and fierce war between its Muslims and Christian populations. Ambon was partly destroyed and divided. Hundreds of people were killed or injured and thousands others displaced from their homes.
After a month of heavy fighting, on 1 March 1999, a peace agreement was reached between Ambonese religious community and traditional leaders at the local army headquarters but it did not have much effect. Sporadic fighting still took place in many parts of the island. In fact, the violence spread to other islands in Maluku, including Haruku, Seram and Saparua.
On 12 May 1999, another peace declaration was signed, but still to no avail. In August 1999, the center of this religious conflict shifted to the newly created province of North Maluku. Until the end of 1999, casualties among both sides remained considerably high.
On 7 January 2000, after the Christians massacred hundreds of Muslims in Tobelo and Galela in late December 1999, over 100,000 Muslims held protest in Jakarta calling for a jihad in Maluku.
By May 2000, Laskar Jihad, a militia group led by Ja'far Umar Thalib, began arriving in Maluku. Tensions quickly rose within both religious groups. This arrival of Laskar Jihad in Maluku gave the Muslims an upper hand and the Christians began to suffer many losses.
On 27 June 2000, Presiden Abdurrahman Wahid declared a state of civil emergency in Maluku, giving the police and the military substantial new powers. By July 2000, there were approximately 14,000 troops stationed in Maluku.
Two months later, the Yon Gab, a joint battalion comprised of mixed ethnics and faiths, arrived in Maluku. This multi-ethnic battalion succeeded in establishing peace in Ambon and Maluku although sporadic violence continued to take place up to 2003.
On 15 September 2003, the government lifted the state of civil emergency status in Ambon. People of both faiths began delivering their weapons to the authority as inter-faith schools and dialogs were reopened in Maluku.
In December 2003, the government arrested several RMS (South Mollucas Republic) leaders who were suspected of authoring the Ambon riots of 1999.
By 2004, condition in Maluku has gradually returned to normal.
