Muhammadiyah chief says corruption must be stopped<\/p>\n
SEMARANG, Central Java: The 28-million strong Muhammadiyah
\nappealed yesterday to Indonesians to honor independence with an
\nend to corruption and the abuse of power.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Moslem organization Amien Rais said after
\ncelebrating the country's 50th anniversary on Aug. 17 that
\nIndonesians should shun all forms of \"treason\" and \"decadence\".<\/p>\n
\"We need to think and act clean,\" Amien said in an anniversary
\nworkshop, which also featured prominent human rights activist
\nMuladi and intellectual Darmanto Jatman.<\/p>\n
The workshop was a forum for reflection after Indonesia's 50
\nyears of independence and 350 years of colonization.<\/p>\n
Amien, also a well-known political scholar from Yogyakarta's
\nGadjah Mada University, pointed out that a number of social ills,
\nmost notably corruption and power abuse, remain prevalent in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Many are corrupt. Some people destroy forests on the pretext
\nthat they are improving the people's well-being, while in fact
\nthey are ruining our children's future,\" he said. \"These
\nirresponsible people are in fact our common enemy.\"<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah, dubbed a Moslem \"reformist\" group with its main
\nbase in urban areas, also urged bureaucrats to clean up the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Amien warned that the numerous social problems that stem from
\ninjustices could threaten Indonesian unity. He pointed out that
\nIndonesia could disintegrate like Russia and the former republics
\nof Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.<\/p>\n
Many countries envy Indonesia for its success in economic
\ndevelopment. \"Many countries, especially those in Asia and
\nAfrica, have been economically and politically on the decline
\nsince obtaining independence,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
\nunderlined the importance of safeguarding national unity by
\ndiscarding ethnic fanaticism.<\/p>\n
\"If people from a certain ethnic group are in trouble, we
\nshould share their burden. For example, if people from East
\nTimorese are in trouble we should consider it the problem of the
\nwhole nation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who is the rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
\nUniversity, agreed that corruption, poverty and human rights
\nabuses remain a major problem, even after 50 years of
\nindependence.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that the problem would be solved if Indonesia
\nupheld the principle of every citizen being equal before the law.<\/p>\n
The workshop attended by about 400 people was also enlivened
\nby a poetry reading by Islamic teacher Mustafa Bisri from
\nRembang, Central Java. (har\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/muhammadiyah-chief-says-corruption-must-be-stopped-1447893297",
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