Riot at Tanjung Priok, Jakarta

Again, riot in Jakarta. Yesterday, April 14, thousands of people were involved in a clash against about 2,000 public order officers and 600 police officers in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, near the location of historic tomb of Habib Hasan bin Muhammad al Haddad or Mbah Priok. At least 2 people were killed and 130 others injured and at least 46 vehicles, including police water canon, buses, trucks and cars were burned down.

It's started after local residents, who have have vowed to defend the Habib Hasan cemetery from any eviction plan, got information about government's plan to evict the cemetery area. The clash could not be avoided even after there's a notification that the eviction plan concerned only to illegal buildings around the cemetery and not the tomb that actually has been put on a plan of renovation.

I feel sorrow over this tragedy. It should have been avoided. I say a prayer that it won't happen again to any place in my country in the years to come. Amin..

( Image source: Kompas )