Vigilantism, or taking the law into one’s own hand, has a long history in Indonesia dating back to the colonial era. Various vigilante groups linked to political powerholders or political parties in present Indonesia have been subject of scholarly examination. The emergence of these groups is generally linked to the period after 1957 when parliamentary democracy made way for autocratic rule. We know surprisingly little about developments prior to 1957 during Indonesia’s first democratic era shortly after sovereignty was achieved from the Dutch.
Peter Keppy's historical inquiry of vigilantism in Central Java during the period of parliamentary democracy (1950-1957), demonstrates that mob justice transformed into paramilitarism when the army and the civil corps allied and established civil militia for counter-insurgency purposes. Why and how this transformation from crime control vigilantism to ‘official vigilantism’ occurred will be discussed. Keppy will end his presentation with some general conclusions on the apparent strange bedfellows of democracy, vigilantism and paramilitarism in modern Indonesia.