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Article: Crisis in Maluku: from religion to nationalism.(against the current)
- Article from:
- Arena Magazine
- Article date:
- June 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Between 1999 and 2002 the Maluku islands were divided by a purportedly bitter religious/ nationalist struggle that left over 5,000 people dead and approximately 500,000 people displaced. After two years of relative calm, this inter-communal violence recently reappeared as open warfare.
The conflict was sparked on 25 April, the date marking the founding of the Republic of South Maluku (Republic Maluku Selatan [RMS]) by the islands' relatively small independence movement. Initially low-key, events escalated when police detained twenty-four people involved in hoisting RMS flags. Independence supporters protested outside police headquarters, and the pro-Indonesian ...