Join secretariat needed to promote religious harmony<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Religious leaders together with the House of Representatives have
\nagreed on the need to establish a joint office to promote
\nreligious harmony across the country.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a hearing with the House here on Tuesday, they
\nsaid a joint secretariat is badly needed to help restore the
\nrelationship between religious followers, which has been
\ntarnished by sectarian conflicts in several parts of the country.<\/p>\n
"We fully support a call raised in the forum for the
\nestablishment of a joint secretariat," Taufiqurrahman Saleh,
\nchairman of the House's Commission VI overseeing religion and
\nnational education, told the hearing.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's hearing was attended by Minister of Religious
\nAffairs Said Agil Munawar and leaders from various religious
\norganizations, including Muhammadiyah, the Indonesian Council of
\nUlemas (MUI), the Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI), the
\nIndonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) and the Council of
\nBuddhist Communities (Walubi).<\/p>\n
No one from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim
\norganization, showed up at the hearing aimed at deliberating a
\nnew bill on national education.<\/p>\n
However, NU leader Solahuddin Wahid backed on Tuesday such a
\njoint religious office as long as it would not be under
\ngovernment control.<\/p>\n
"The move is positive in nature but we need to discuss it
\nfurther," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
In February, NU and Muhammadiyah along with non-Islamic
\norganizations launched a national moral movement also aimed at
\npromoting interfaith harmony and countering radicalism.<\/p>\n
The movement has formed a working group comprising
\nrepresentatives from different religions. It recently visited the
\nstrife-torn islands of Maluku to encourage local warring Muslims
\nand Christians to end three years of fighting.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin said the religious working group could be
\n"institutionalized" as a proposed joint secretariat.<\/p>\n
Taufikurrahman, a legislator with the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB), suggested that such a joint religious office be set up in
\nJakarta as well as at regional levels.<\/p>\n
He said the secretariat would be tasked mainly with improving
\ninterfaith harmony between Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus
\nand other religious followers.<\/p>\n
The programs should include providing deep understanding of
\nreligions to their respective adherents so they would become
\nenlightened in practicing their religious teachings, he added.<\/p>\n
Also, he said the joint secretariat would seek to push for the
\nscrapping of all government rulings deemed "discriminatory"
\nagainst non-Muslims.<\/p>\n
The rulings in question may include a joint decree issued in
\n1969 by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of
\nHome Affairs, which forbids the spreading and preaching of a
\nreligion to people with different faiths.<\/p>\n
Under the decree, the construction of houses of worship,
\nexcept mosques, must obtain permission from the local government
\nand local residents.<\/p>\n
Taufiqurrahman added the government should facilitate the
\nproposed establishment of a joint religious secretariat by
\nhelping cover its operational costs.<\/p>\n
The government's possible intervention in making decisions by
\nthe secretariat on religious affairs must be avoided, he added.<\/p>",
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