Not all 66th Independence Day celebrations went as smoothly as the official event at the State Palace on Wednesday.
The official flag-raising ceremony in the capital featured a flyover by six F-16s and six Sukhoi fighter jets, the performance of a song penned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the expected absence of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who still has hard feelings after being defeated by Yudhoyono in the 2004 polls.
Elsewhere across the archipelago, Independence Day celebrations were just as festive, although a little subdued because it fell in the middle of the fasting month this year.
In Solo, some 250 stall owners at the city’s main market, Pasar Gede, held a ceremony involving organizers dressed as wayang characters and the national anthem accompanied by traditional gamelan music.
Some of the participants, like 75-year-old Sujinem, could even remember how they celebrated 66 years ago. “Everybody was happy, including my family,” she said.
News agencies from around the country reported flag-raising ceremonies held at waterfalls and in ponds, or with participants wearing traditional dress.
However, violence disrupted celebrations in the easternmost province of Papua.
In Paniai district, shots were fired during the morning flag-raising ceremony, causing many participants to flee in panic.
District chief Naftali Yogi said the shooting aimed to intimidate those who wanted the province to remain a part of Indonesia.
Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu, chief of the Cendrawasih Military Command, which oversees operations in the region, said suspected separatists also attacked an Independence Day celebration in Mulia, the capital of the restive Puncak Jaya district.
One soldier was reported injured in that shooting, which was said to have involved at least 20 armed members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM).
Meanwhile, the day was memorable for some 3,500 inmates across the country — including 21 graft convicts — who walked free from prison after receiving sentence reductions.
With additional reporting by Ulma Haryanto, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Amir Tedjo, Hangga Brata & Antara