T

he Betawi Consultative Body, which supervises activities of Betawi-based organizations, refuses to take action against its affiliates allegedly involved in a South Jakarta street brawl last Saturday.

Two of the body’s affiliates, the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and the Betawi People Communication Forum (Forkabi), were reportedly involved in the clash that broke out in Rempoa, an upscale residential area near South Jakarta, and later spread to other parts of South Jakarta.

“Don’t put the blame on the consultative body. We could not control all our affiliates members,” the body’s vice chairman Amarullah Asbah said on the sidelines of Wednesday’s internal dialogue for a plan to establish cooperation between it and the city public order agency on maintaining public order in the city.

He added that the consultative body had put substantial effort into controlling those organizations. Despite the weekend’s incident, several times the FBR and the Forkabi made headlines related to brawl incidents in the city and greater area,

The body’s statutes stated that the consultative body could reprimand members who tarnish its image.

Aside from the FBR and the Forkabi, youth groups Pemuda Pancasila (PP) and Kembang Latar had been allegedly involved in the clash at Rempoa, which later spread to Jl. Pahlawan, Tanah Kusir, before reaching Arteri Pondok Indah and Kebayoran Lama.

The police have detained 26 suspects but declined to disband the mass organizations, saying that the groups’ activities were protected by the Constitution, and that the police would only take action against those who committed criminal acts.

Amarullah told The Jakarta Post: “All we can do is summon the heads of each disputing organizations and begin dialogue.

“We cannot prohibit or interfere with our members’ policies.”

More than 110 affiliate organizations are under the consultative body, which was established on June 22, 1982.

“We have other organizations joining us such as cultural organizations and several foundations on health and education,” Amarullah said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the body also discussed a plan to employ its affiliates to become partners of the city public order.

“We hope to maintain public order across the city by helping the city public order agency,” Amarullah said.

Urban sociologist from the University of Indonesia Otto Hernowohadi said that the body was intended to control the affiliate organizations by supervising each leadership.

“For such mass organizations such as the FBR and the Betawi People Communication Forum, leadership is very important,” he said, adding that solidarity from members would ignite an automatic supporting policy from their leaders.

“There should be a social sanction for any members who disrupt public order. And the Betawi Consultative Body, which is the umbrella organization, should design and impose the punishment,” he said.

However, he added that the body could not impose any formal punishment, which are stipulated to be carried out by law enforcers.

“In this case, we should ask for the commitment of our law enforcing bodies in handling such incidents,” he said. (ipa)