Controversial tree gets police protection
Indonesian police have slapped a cordon around a
huge landmark banyan tree in the capital after members of a Muslim youth group
attacked it to prove it had no special mystical powers.
Indonesian police have slapped a cordon
around a huge landmark banyan tree in the capital after members of a Muslim
youth group attacked it to prove it had no special mystical
powers.The governor of Jakarta filed a
complaint with police after youths hacked and damaged the 100-year-old banyan,
on a traffic island in the capital, in a bid to dispel rumours the tree harbored
special powers.“The city
government tried hard not to cut the tree when we built a new bus lane. It is
more than 100 years old and it is important for the environment,” said
Susi Marsitawati of Jakarta’s park
agency.“But later rumors spread
that the government was unable to fell the tree because it has supernatural
powers and is sacred,” the official said, adding that Jakarta Governor
Sutiyoso had filed a complaint with
police.Jeje Zainudin, chairman of the
United Islam Youth, said the group had carried out the attack to counter
superstitions surrounding the
tree.“It is not a matter of
chopping down the tree but this is to counter a popular belief such as if [we]
touch it, [we] will get sick or your cleaver will
break.”I’m
never surprised when a superstitious mob does something really destructive and
ignorant; but, I think this dude’s cleaver was already
broken.
Posted: Wed - October 4, 2006 at 06:25 AM