Indonesian Muslims Remain Tolerant, Former President Says

[JM]

According to a news report carried on Union of Catholic Asian News : ** UCA News Online, Muslims in Indonesia are generally tolerant in spite of emerging radical groups espousing violence, says former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

The website reported that on Dec. 26, Wahid told UCA News, "Muslims in
Abdurrahman Wahid

Indonesia put mutual interest ahead of their own interest," He pointed out that even though 88 percent of the country's 218 million people are Muslims, Indonesians did not build their country as an Islamic state. The national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity), reflects this, he said.

Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, headed Nahdlatul Ulama (NU, awakening of Islamic scholars), the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, before serving as the country's president 1999-2001. NU claims 40 million members.

UCA News spoke with the former president following a Dec. 22 "Public Discussion with Gus Dur," which assessed interreligious tolerance under the current administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

About 200 people attended the open-air Saturday discussion at the office of the Islam Liberal Network to express their social and religious concerns with Wahid. Such Saturday discussions on various themes started in November 2005.

Wahid noted that a May survey conducted by Wahid Institute, a socio-religious research and advocacy group he established, found 95.4 percent of Muslims see inter-religious tolerance as important for a peaceful Indonesia.

Of the 1,047 Muslims in 33 provinces surveyed, 84.4 percent agreed they need to offer peace and tolerance to believers of other religions. Only 10.6 percent disagreed. "You see, they are a minority," Wahid said.

Discussion participants blamed the government, Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI, Indonesian acronym) and security personnel for religious-motivated violence. Ulama are Islamic scholars.

In 2007, the state committed 185 violations against religious freedom -- 92 by commission and 93 by omission -- according to Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, as quoted by Tempo daily on Dec. 19.

Three days earlier Protestant leaders of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia and Catholic leaders of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia submitted to the National Commission on Human Rights a list of 108 cases of church closure, attack or destruction under Yudhoyono's administration during the years 2004-2007.

For example, pressured by local people's protest, the Tambora subdistrict head in West Jakarta wrote to Peace of Christ Parish on Nov. 23 asking it to close the worship place it has used for 30 years.

During the lively discussion aired by 70 radio stations nationwide, a Protestant pastor representing Churches in North Bekasi, east of Jakarta, said crowds on Dec. 16 forced five churches to close down. Worship services were forced to stop that day, and Church council members had to flee while Sunday School children cried hysterically, he recounted, asking for Wahid's guidance and protection.

Aside from Christian groups, the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, founded in the late 1800s in Punjab, an area later divided between India and Pakistan, has been targeted. On Dec. 18, groups attacked houses and worship places of the Ahmadiyah community in Manis Lor, West Java.

At the discussion, people charged Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla with failing to protect the people, because the 1945 Constitution guarantees religious freedom to every citizen.

Participants wondered why the government has not take action against groups that commit crimes in the name of religion, and they called on the government to close down MUI, established in 1973 during President Soeharto's regime. They noted that MUI fatwa, or religious edicts, have encouraged radical groups to oppress minorities.

In 1980, MUI issued a fatwa declaring Ahmadiyah not a legitimate form of Islam. On Oct. 4 this year, it declared al-Qiyadah al-Islamiyah, another Islamic sect, as heretical. Both have become targets of Islam Defenders' Front and Indonesia Mujahidin Council, two militant groups.

"MUI, an NGO like NU, has no formal authority to issue a fatwa," Wahid insisted, adding that Muslims in Indonesia still have much "homework" to do.

"We will complete this by upholding democracy and by educating the silent majority," he said, maintaining that Islam teaches tolerance and Muslims have a big role in building peace. "In fact," he said, "Indonesia has no severe inter-religious conflicts, and (existing conflicts) in certain towns will gradually disappear."