Abdurrahman insists on Islamic law for Aceh

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.
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