Government to blame for stampede in Mina: Gus Dur<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government should take the blame for the death of
\n54 pilgrims in a stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a
\nnoted Muslim leader said.<\/p>\n
Former president and former chairman of the country's largest
\nMuslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\"
\nWahid said on Thursday that the government did not provide clear
\nguidance on how and when to perform the devil-stoning rite.<\/p>\n
\"If we refer to the Wahabi sect's regulations, the pilgrims
\nshould perform the devil-pelting rite in the afternoon, but the
\ngovernment (reportedly) never told our pilgrims what time they
\nshould go. So the incident was our government's fault,\" Gus Dur
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"I understand the situation because I once went for a
\npilgrimage and no government official informed us about the
\nprocedures. Of course, the lack of information meant that we
\ncould go to Mina anytime we wanted ... in the morning, afternoon
\nor evening,\" Gus Dur explained during a press conference at the
\nNU headquarters on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He scolded the leaders in Jakarta and instructed them to stop
\nlooking for a scapegoat in the tragedy, saying that the Saudi
\ngovernment was not responsible.<\/p>\n
Over 250 pilgrims, including 54 Indonesians, were killed in a
\nstampede during the stoning ritual, or jumroh, in Mina, near
\nMecca, Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, chairman of the country's second largest Muslim
\norganization Muhammadiyah Syafii Maarif criticized this
\ngovernment for not taking any action, but simply assuming it was
\nGod's will.<\/p>\n
\"It's ridiculous to consider the incident God's will. It
\nhappened because of poor haj management,\" Syafii told reporters.<\/p>\n
NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi urged the government authorities in
\ncharge of the Indonesian contingent to improve the haj
\nmanagement, especially the time schedules when they can throw
\ntheir stones at the pillars that represent satan.<\/p>\n
\"The government should continuously update our haj pilgrims
\nabout their scheduled time,\" Hasyim said.<\/p>\n
Several haj pilgrims had claimed that they were never told
\nthere was to be an allotted time for the trek to Mina.<\/p>\n
Acting Minister for Religious Affairs Jusuf Kalla claimed that
\nthe Saudi government had scheduled Indonesian pilgrims and other
\npilgrims from Southeast Asian countries to go to Mina between 4
\np.m and 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
He claimed that the incident happened at 9 a.m, obviously with
\na lot of Indonesians involved, but the morning schedule had been
\nallocated for pilgrims from Arab and African countries.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Religious Affairs's Haj Information Office
\nhead Nunun Firdaus suspected that Indonesian group leaders had
\nnot informed their fellow pilgrims about the stoning schedule.<\/p>\n
\"It's also possible that the pilgrims just opted to defy that
\nrule and go at whatever time they wanted. We could not prohibit
\nthem,\" Nunun said.<\/p>\n
He rejected suggestions that officers in charge of the haj
\npilgrimage be investigated for not informing the people about the
\nschedule.<\/p>\n
\"It's just a suggested time. It's not an obligation for the
\npilgrims to obey,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nunun also ruled out suggestions that an independent be set up
\nto handle the haj pilgrimage, claiming it would create a bigger
\nmess, because it would become profit-oriented.<\/p>\n
\"Two years ago, some 30,000 haj pilgrims organized by a
\nprivate company ran into difficulties. Finally, the government
\nhelped them,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Several non-governmental organizations earlier suggested to
\nthe House of Representatives (DPR) that an independent body be
\nset up to manage the haj pilgrimage.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-to-blame-for-stampede-in-mina-gus-dur-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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