Religious leaders call for calm<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The killing of three schoolgirls in the Central Sulawesi town of
\nPoso has raised concern among Christian and Muslim leaders, who
\ncalled on their followers to remain calm so as to prevent a cycle
\nof revenge from setting in.<\/p>\n
The religious figures believe that the latest violence to hit
\nthe town, where sectarian conflict killed some 2,000 people a few
\nyears ago, is aimed at fueling hatred between Muslims and
\nChristians.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), Rev.
\nAndreas Yewangoe, further asked President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono to immediately capture the perpetrators of the triple
\nmurder and discover the real motive behind the heinous crime.<\/p>\n
\"Why did the killings take place as both the Muslim and
\nChristian communities were successfully improving their hostile
\nrelationship?\" Yewangoe said to The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He dismissed speculation that religious motives were behind
\nthe murders.<\/p>\n
Three female students from a Christian senior high school were
\nbeheaded by unidentified assailants on Saturday. Another student
\nsurvived the attack but suffered a stab wound to her face.<\/p>\n
Yewangoe said some PGI officials would immediately visit Poso
\nin a bid to calm down Christians and prevent them from taking
\nrevenge. He expected other religious leaders would follow suit.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin joined the chorus of
\ncondemnation against the killings, calling the assailants
\n\"atheists\".<\/p>\n
\"We strongly condemn the incident, and believe me that this
\nhas nothing to do with ties between Muslims and Christians,\" Din
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
He further asked the police to conduct a thorough
\ninvestigation and take resolute action against the perpetrators,
\nwhom he said \"really want to create instability and disharmony
\namong religious adherents.<\/p>\n
Noted Muslim figure Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid also denounced
\nthe violence.<\/p>\n
\"The murders were perpetrated by heartless people. No
\nreligion teaches us to kill our brothers and sisters,\" former
\npresident Gus Dur said.<\/p>\n
Yewangoe recalled the promise made by Susilo to religious
\nleaders ahead of last year's presidential election that he would
\npay more attention to the sporadic sectarian violence nationwide.<\/p>\n
\"I remember that it was during a meeting on Aug. 23 last year
\nthat I reminded Pak Susilo that weak law enforcement was the
\nkey problem to dealing with escalating tension among religious
\nadherents in this country. We asked him to address the issue
\naccordingly after he won the election.<\/p>\n
\"Like other religious leaders, I think we've done enough by
\ncoming down to the field to calm people. But now that violence
\nhas continued to occur, there is no other way to stop it but to
\nimpose stiff legal sanctions against the perpetrators,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Poso has been the scene of sporadic violence since a formal
\npeace was signed to end bloody sectarian conflict in December
\n2001. The government has blamed the violence on terrorist groups.<\/p>\n
Religious harmony in the world's most populous Muslim country
\nhas been put to the test following the recent closure of dozens
\nof Christian houses of worship. The government is currently
\nrevising an old decree that is deemed discriminatory by non-
\nMuslims.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/religious-leaders-call-for-calm-1447893297",
"image": ""
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