THE TASIKMALAYA CHAOS IN 1996: BETWEEN THE SOCIETY’S SOLIDARITY AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMY IMBALANCE

Abstract

The harmony of Tasikmalaya society with its calm, polite, and peaceful life was in question when it was instantly turned agresive and violent. The 1996 Tasikmalaya Riot was a typology of collective behaviour which led the discourse into the Ethnic, Religion, and Race (SARA – Suku, Agama, Ras) problems by targetting their agresivity to churches and Chinese’s stores. However, was the riot really the problem of the Ethnic, Religion, and Race, or was there another problem behind the peaceful life of Tasikmalaya people? This study attempts to find the answer to this question, through interview and documentation, to obtain primary sources. The social condition of Tasikmalaya people is agrarian with its strong Islamic boarding school culture. The base to analyse the Tasikmalaya riot is the theories of Islamic boarding school network and collective behaviour. The trigger of the riot was the torturing of ustadz, the Islamic preachers, by the police. This incident emerge the Moslem solidarity in Tasikmalaya which caused the riot at 26 December 1996. The riot’s causes can be traced in the social-economy condition, the society culture, and Tasikmalaya society structure for a comphensive description. The collective behaviour of the Tasikmalaya riot in 1996 is a representative of social, economy, and law imbalance. The riot was an important learning process for the people and officers in Tasikmalaya.