1998 East Java ninja scare: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:34, 17 October 2024

Revision as of 01:14, 18 October 2024

Line 2:

{{refimprove|date=May 2018}}

The '''1998 East Java ninja scare''' was an outbreak of [[mass hysteria]] in [[East Java]], [[Indonesia]], in which the local population believed they were being targeted by sorcerers. In response, unidentified vigilantes, known as [[ninja]], whokilled werea blamednumber forof mysterioussuspected killingssorcerers, ofincluding religious leaders by assassins dressed in black. As many as 150-300 “sorcerers” were killed between February and October, with the most deaths occurring between August and September.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/20/world/fears-of-sorcerers-spur-killings-in-java.html|title=Fears of Sorcerers Spur Killings in Java|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|work=The New York Times |date=20 October 1998|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> In response to these killings, other Indonesians attacked and killed suspected ninjas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1998-11-03 |title=E Java mob lynches three policemen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbUpAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&article_id=2764,556298&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjr5sGo3paJAxVsC3kGHYl2KWsQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=%22east%20java%22%20ninja&f=false |work=The Nation |pages=A6 |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1998-12-29 |title='Ninja' killings defy easy analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvtkAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=%22east+java%22+ninja&article_id=4125,6785997&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjr5sGo3paJAxVsC3kGHYl2KWsQ6AF6BAgNEAI#v=onepage&q=%22east%20java%22%20ninja&f=false |work=The Telegraph-Herald |pages=7A |agency=Knight Ridder News Service}}</ref>

According to the [[National Commission on Human Rights]], 307 people were killed during the scare in total: 194 people in [[Banyuwangi Regency|Banyuwangi]], 108 in [[Jember Regency|Jember]], and seven in [[Malang]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Yulisman |first=Linda |date=2023-08-01 |title=25 years after bloody witch hunts in East Java, cases remain unresolved |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/08/01/25-years-after-bloody-witch-hunts-in-east-java-cases-remain-unresolved.html |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=[[The Jakarta Post]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Background==

According to Jason Brown, [[Banyuwangi Regency|Banyuwangi]] is a centre of belief in black magic in Indonesia. Black magic practiced in Banyuwangi is a mix of animist beliefs and Islamic mysticism which developed from inter-religious conflict during the 16th century Mataram court period. Belief in black magic, or [[Dukun|dukun santet]], is widespread in the area.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Jason |date=2000 |title=The Banyuwangi murders - Inside Indonesia |url=http://www.insideindonesia.org/the-banyuwangi-murders |website=insideindonesia.orgInside Indonesia}}</ref> Suspected sorcerers were also killed in Indonesia in 1965.<ref name=":2" />

Indonesia saw other political and economic tensions during 1998, including the [[May 1998 riots of Indonesia|May riots]] and the [[Fall of Suharto|resignation]] of President [[Suharto]].<ref name=":2" />

==Events==

In early 1998, residents in Kaligondo, Banyuwangi Regency became concerned with sorcery after multiple cattle became sick and died. Local resident Soemarno Adi was suspected, and was lynched on 4 February. His death sparked a number of other killings by vigilante groups. Some vigilantes dressed in all black, leading to them being called ninjas. Most victims were ordinary civilians, local leaders, or clerics affiliated with [[Nahdlatul Ulama]].<ref name=":2" />

The killings began in [[Banyuwangi Regency]] in February. Organized assassins, dressed in black from which they gained the name ninja, began attacking leaders affiliated with [[Nahdlatul Ulama]]. Local people began to hunt down and kill anyone who they believed to be ‘ninjas’ in response. About five people were killed between February and July. In the month of August, 40 people were killed, and in September the number rose to 80.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

On 18 October 1998, five men were killed in the Turen area.<ref>{{cite news|urlname=https"://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/20/world/fears-of-sorcerers-spur-killings-in-java.html|title=Fears0" of Sorcerers Spur Killings in Java|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|work=The New York Times |date=20 October 1998|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> One was beaten to death, one was burned and three were beheaded. On 20 October 1998, three killings occurred. Two had been seized from a police car by vigilantes who reportedly slit their throats; the third man was beheaded and his head paraded around on a stake.<ref>{{cite news|urlname=https"://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/20/world/fears-of-sorcerers-spur-killings-in-java.html|title=Fears0" of Sorcerers Spur Killings in Java|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|work=The New York Times |date=20 October 1998|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

On 24 October at Gondanglegi, [[Malang Regency]], another five suspected ninjas were killed by villagers. One victim was burnt to death while another one was beheaded.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} On 31 October and 1 November, three policemen were killed in [[Madura]] after being suspected to be ninjas. On 31 October, one man in north [[Jakarta]] was attacked on suspicions of being a ninja, marking the first time the scare had impacted Jakarta.<ref name=":1" />

===Local press reports===

On 1 October 1998, the Surabaya Post reported “a rumour about the existence of attacks by ninja-like squads” that were targeting “community"community leaders as well as [[ulama]]". AsIn a resultresponse, the residentsneighbors nearof Islamiculamas boarding schoolsbegan undertakeorganizing tightguard guardsshifts "around the houses of ulamas who have become targets".” On 4 October 1998, the Jawa Pos reported that “prayer"prayer teachers are in the sights of groups of dozens of killers who wear all-black clothes and masks like ninjas".”<ref>{{cite web |last=Herriman |first=Nicholas |date=3 May 2016 |title=Hunting and killing ninjas in Indonesia - New Mandala |url=http://www.newmandala.org/hunting-killing-ninjas-indonesia/ |website=newmandala.orgNew Mandala}}</ref>

===Casualties===

{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2023}}

A Nahdlatul Ulama investigation team found that 143 ‘ninja’ were killed in Banyuwangi and 105 in other regions of East Java such as [[Jember]], [[Sumenep]] and [[Pasuruan]], making the total documented death toll 248, though it may be higher.

===Theories===

There have been a number of theories regarding who was behind killings.

{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2023}}

There have been a number of theories regarding who was behind the original organised killing of the Nahdlatul Ulama religious leaders. [[Abdurrahman Wahid]], then head of [[Nahdlatul Ulama]], claimed they were ordered by elite politicians.

Some have argued that the killings were encouraged covertly by the military in an effort to destabilize the new Indonesian government, or to weaken Nahdlatul Ulama or the emerging Islamic the National Awakening Party. [[Nahdlatul Ulama]] has claimed that security forces were involved. The [[National Commission on Human Rights]] concluded in 2018 that the murders were "conducted by 'trained' and 'organized' assailants, and that national security forces enabled the killings by not intervening until September 1998.<ref name=":2" />

== Impacts ==

The killings sparked discussion on the legal regulation of sorcery, to discourage individuals from "taking the law into their own hands".<ref name=":2" />

==References==

{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Herriman |first=Nicholas |title=Witch-hunt and conspiracy: the 'ninja case' in East Java |date=2016 |publisher=[[NUS Press]]|isbn=978-981-4722-33-9 |___location=Singapore}}

[[Category:1998 crimes in Indonesia]]

[[Category:History1998 ofmurders Eastin JavaAsia]]

[[Category:Religiously motivated violence in Indonesia]]

[[Category:Scares]]

[[Category:Ninja]]

[[Category:Banyuwangi (town)]]

[[Category:Asian shamanism]]

[[Category:Banyuwangi (town)]]

[[Category:Crimes involving Satanism or the occult]]

[[Category:History of East Java]]

[[Category:Mass psychogenic illness in Asia]]

[[Category:Moral panic]]

[[Category:Ninja]]

[[Category:Religiously motivated violence in Indonesia]]

[[Category:Scares]]