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Local artists, students clash with mass organization during Pontianak’s World Dance Day
Artists and university students clashed with members of a local mass organization during a World Dance Day celebration in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Monday evening.
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Hundreds of dancers perform during World Dance Day on Jl. Jenderal Soedirman in Surakarta in 2017. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
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div>Artists and university students clashed with members of a local mass organization during a World Dance Day celebration in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Monday evening.
The event – initiated by Tanjungpura University’s (UNTAN) art faculty and the Pontianak Youth, Sports, and Tourism Agency – was drawing to a close when members of local mass organization Laskar Pemuda Melayu and several Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel arrived at the venue in Digulis Square at around 9:30 p.m.
The agency’s creative economy division head, Harry Ronal, said members of Laskar Pemuda Melayu told the crowd to leave the premises or they would proceed with violence.
“Several students from UNTAN who were present at the event resisted, resulting in a full-blown physical altercation,” Harry told The Jakarta Post on the phone, adding that UNTAN’s art faculty head was among those who had been injured.
He said Laskar Pemuda Melayu was led to believe that the event had been hosting a “morally deviant” dance performance based on a viral video broadcast through WhatsApp.
Pontianak Mayor Edi Rusdi Kamtono dispatched Satpol PP personnel to secure the premises, not to disband the event, he added.
“I would like to clarify that the mayor of Pontianak sent Satpol PP to the venue to ensure public safety – not to disband the event – to deal with possible disturbances following the broadcast of the viral video on WhatsApp,” Harry said.
“The World Dance Day celebration was an official event. It was initiated and supported by the Pontianak administration. There is no way the mayor wanted to disband it."
He said agency members, UNTAN representatives and artists met with the mayor after the event in the early hours of Tuesday to discuss the violence that had taken place.
The case was reported to the local police, according to Harry.
Monday’s World Dance Day celebration in Pontianak featured over 700 local dancers, each highlighting their own culture.
Pontianak-based music composer Nursalim Yadi Anugerah lamented the violence, saying the incident showed that certain members of the public were still highly vulnerable to misinformation.
“Some people are unfortunately still very keen on cherry-picking facts and put convoluted narratives around them that fit their views,” Nursalim told the Post.
