A child wounded by marines who shot at residents of Alas Tlogo in Pasuruan regency was discharged from hospital on Monday.
Choirul Anwar, 4, who underwent an operation on his abdomen at a hospital in Malang, East Java, does not remember the incident, in which four people were shot dead, including his mother.
"I'm confused that Choirul thinks his mother is still alive and at home looking for grass (to feed the cattle)," said Choirul's father, Sutrisno.
Sutrisno, a sugarcane plantation worker, said he was happy to see his son recovered but was still mourning the death of his 27-year-old wife Mistin.
Mistin and three other residents were shot dead by marines in a land dispute between Alas Tlogo villagers and the Navy.
Choirul was allowed to go home by doctors at Syaiful Anwar Hospital after they had removed 18 pieces of shrapnel from his body.
"I still do not know how to tell Choirul about the real condition of his mother after we get home," Sutrisno said.
Sutrisno and his father-in-law, Samad, 53, have stayed at the hospital with the boy for the last 20 days. Choirul has constantly asked for his mother and wanted to know why she wasn't at the hospital.
"I was speechless. I thought maybe this child had already felt his mother was no longer alive," Sutrisno said, adding that his son's questions made his heart feel "as if it were being sliced into pieces" and that he could not tell his son the truth.
"This child is very clever so we have to be careful when speaking to him," he said.
Meanwhile, the commander of Indonesia's East Region Fleet, Rear Adm. Muchlas Sidig, reiterated in Surabaya on Monday the Navy's plan to build a battle training center in the area where the shooting took place.
"I already negotiated with a number of villagers and they said they were ready to relocate to other areas by receiving 500-square-meter plot of land per person. However, the plan had to be postponed due to the shooting incident," he said.
Navy chief of staff Adm. Slamet Soebijanto said earlier that the military training center was badly needed and that Pasuruan was the most strategic area as it could be used for land, air and sea training.
Pasuruan Regency Jusbakir Aldjufri initially proposed that the training center be moved farther away, an idea submitted to institutions including the House of Representatives, the Regional Representatives Council and the National Human Rights Commission, but which received no response.
The Navy claims that the land was bought legally in 1963, although it also alleged that corrupt officials at the local regency administration had sold it illegally.
Source : www.thejakartapost.com
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