Abdurrahman insists on Islamic law for Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Despite opposition from the country's largest political party, President Abdurrahman Wahid insisted on Monday that the government would go ahead with its plan to implement Islamic law or syariah in the restive province of Aceh.

Abdurrahman, nevertheless, assured non-Muslims that the planned implementation of syariah in Aceh would not violate their basic rights as the law would apply only to Acehnese Muslims and not to the followers of other faiths.

"Non-Muslims, instead, are subject to existing laws and not syariah," he told thousands of Buddhists during the celebration of the Buddhist Day of Enlightenment or Waisak in Bung Karno sports stadium in Central Jakarta.

A Muslim scholar, Abdurrahman reassured non-Muslims that their rights and freedom would be respected by stressing that the philosophical principle of Islamic law was merely to deter crime and punish offenders.

"The implementation of the law doesn't mean cutting hands or stoning someone found guilty for a crime," he said.

Islamic law has been implemented in Aceh, but limited to social, educational, religious and cultural affairs, in line with Law No. 44/1999.

Currently the House of Representatives is deliberating the Special Autonomy bill of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam that gives the province broad authority in security, financial and legal matters, including the full implementation of Islamic law in all aspects of life.

Already, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the largest faction at the House, opposed the inclusion of Islamic law in the bill, that was proposed by the Aceh provincial council.

The party contended that it was against the country's basic principle of a unitary state.

Abdurrahman, however, contended that Indonesia may follow the two-tier legal system in the United States, where each state may have different laws in addition to the national law.

"Interaction between local law that is specific in nature and the general law that applies to all citizens would become the core of our life in the future," Abdurrahman said at the Waisak ceremony.

The ceremony in Jakarta was organized by the Great Conference of Indonesian Sangha (KASI), a splinter group of the country's main Buddhist group, the Indonesian Buddhist Association (Walubi).

In another ceremony held by Walubi, over 30,000 Buddhists including some monks from Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Japan joined the all-night prayers and meditation at the eighth century Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java.

The commemoration was preceded by a three-kilometer procession from Mendut Temple to Borobudur.

Unlike last year, there were no art happenings or dances to enliven the procession.

Waisak this year fell within the 2545th year according to the Buddhist calendar.

Walubi's chairperson Siti Hartati Murdaya said in her message that the recent conflicts among the political elite should not affect Buddhists.

She also called on the congregation not to establish a political party but instead to perform good deeds to serve the society.

"In this current fragile situation in the nation, I call upon the congregation not to play with fire and not to imitate others by establishing a political party which in the end may bog us down in irrelevant problems," she said.

She also asked the congregation to live in harmony and not to interfere with their fellow Buddhists of different sects. (23/25/emf/bby) Related picture on Page 2