1998 East Java ninja scare: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:58, 27 June 2025

Revision as of 15:58, 10 August 2025

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On 18 October 1998, five men were killed in the Turen area. 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 name=":0" />

On 24 October at Gondanglegi, [[Malang Regency]], another five suspected ninjas were killed by villagers with one victim was burnt to death.<ref>{{cite web|title= Hancur Lebur Gara-gara 'Hantu' Ninja|url= https://news.detik.com/x/detail/investigasi/20190206/Hancur-Lebur-Gara-gara-Hantu-Ninja/|website=Detik X|date=6 February 2019|language=Indonesian|access-date=27 June 2025}}</ref> On 31 October and 1 November, three policemen were killed in [[Madura]] after being suspected to be ninjas.<ref>{{Citation needed|last=Thufail |first=Fadjar I. |title=Ninjas in Narratives of Local and National Violence in PostSuharto Indonesia |date=October2015-09-14 2024|work=Beginning to Remember: The Past in the Indonesian Present |pages=150–167 |editor-last=Zurbuchen |editor-first=Mary S. |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780295998763-011/pdf |access-date=2025-08-10 |publisher=University of Washington Press |language=en |doi=10.1515/9780295998763-011/pdf |isbn=978-0-295-99876-3}}</ref> 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 leaders as well as [[ulama]]".<ref name=":3" /> In response, the neighbors of ulamas began organizing guard shifts "around the houses of ulamas who have become targets". On 4 October 1998, the ''Jawa Post'' reported that "prayer teachers are in the sights of groups of dozens of killers who wear all-black clothes and masks like ninjas".<ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Herriman |first=Nicholas |date=3 May 2016 |title=Hunting and killing ninjas in Indonesia |url=http://www.newmandala.org/hunting-killing-ninjas-indonesia/ |website=New Mandala}}</ref>

===Theories===

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

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 [[National Awakening Party]].<ref name=":2" /> [[Nahdlatul Ulama]] has claimed that security forces were involved.<ref name=":2" /> 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 ==