Backlash against rival NU members begins
Backlash against rival NU members begins
JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) have started to punish the dissenters who held an extraordinary congress and established a rival board last week.
The North Sulawesi office of NU, for instance, has decided on Saturday to dismiss a leading member, identified only as H.I.S.B, who attended the congress at the Haj Dormitory in Pondok Gede, East Jakarta.
More are expected to be punished as there were around 500 people who attended the congress last Wednesday and claimed to be coming from 23 regional offices and 225 units at regency levels from 26 provinces.
NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, has last week called the dissenters "adventurers" who should be dismissed.
"They went too far, and there's no other option but for us to dismiss them from NU," Gus Dur was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying on Thursday in Jember, East Java.
Gus Dur, however, ruled out doing the dismissing himself. He said that he has never dismissed any members, and will let the 1999 congress to take care of the problem.
The scholar also said he believed that those who came were not formal delegations from leadership boards at the NU offices.
"We have checked. Those who attended the congress were individuals from various branches," he said. "I will ask for explanation from them, and see whether they should be punished."
Gus Dur also said that there were no provincial boards who formally sent delegations to the gathering which was held without police permits.
"Those who did were from regions which have been a problem for some time, namely the provincial offices of NU of South Kalimantan, Jambi and West Sumatra," he said. He was referring to regions which were known to be the stronghold of the leading dissenter, Abu Hasan.
Abu Hasan led a group of dissatisfied ulemas at the largest Moslem organization in holding a "grand conference", despite lacking permits.
Initially reported to be a mere gathering for the ulemas to pray and talk about religious matters, the event developed into a congress and eventually elected Abu Hasan as rival chairman.
The National Police Headquarters have promised to question Abu Hasan.
Meanwhile, in Purwokerto, Abu Hasan's foster father, K.H. Moslich, has also reacted against the establishment of the rival board.
"It's haram, forbidden," he said. "It's a revolt against the legitimate leadership elected in the 1994 congress."
"I will do everything to bring Abu Hasan and Abdurrahman Wahid together to reconcile," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. said on Friday that the conflicts in NU were proof of the poor quality of political education. He also said that his office has four times turned down Abu Hasan's request for permission to hold the conference.
"But he persisted," Yogie said. "There will be sanctions against him, but let the police take care of this problem."
Yogie, however, said he was optimistic that the conflicts will eventually be resolved without his interference. "I will not (meddle) but those NU leaders should also engage in introspection," he said. (swe)