Ban of preacher roundly criticized by Moslem leaders
Ban of preacher roundly criticized by Moslem leaders
JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leaders spoke out yesterday against the military authorities who banned the prominent preacher Dr. Deliar Noer from delivering his Idul Fitri sermon last week.
"Now I don't know where to lodge my complaint over what happened to me," Deliar told The Jakarta Post. "This ban only proves that not much has changed in our political situation."
Deliar, who received his degree in politics from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and was once a staff lecturer at Griffith University in Australia, was scheduled to deliver a sermon for the Idul Fitri prayer at the Al-Ihya Mosque, Duren Sawit subdistrict, East Jakarta, last Friday.
On Wednesday, however, he was notified by the mosque's managers that the local military office wanted to replace him with another preacher. Deliar was not told the reason.
Deliar was quoted by the Kompas daily as saying that he was not exactly surprised by the ban. "This has happened more than once, so I can only be concerned," he said.
Another prominent preacher, A.M. Fatwa, told the Post that he was allowed to speak, though the local military asked to go over his text beforehand.
Fatwa, however, promptly expressed hope that news over the censorship would not adversely affect the current trend of improved relations between the government and Moslem society.
Deliar said he had not prepared any text for his sermon because he believed "what I was about to tell the Idul Fitri congregation was entirely my right."
In addition, the mosque managers did not ask him to write his sermon on paper, he said.
Legislator A.M. Saefuddin of the Moslem-based United Development Party was surprised that the ban and attempts to censor were carried out by the military and not the city branch of the national security agency.
"Koramil (the local military office) has no right to ban Idul Fitri preachers," he said.
Saefuddin speculated that the actions were carried out by "snipers", a term he used to describe some lower level military personnel who acted without their superiors' knowledge or against "national policy".
He called on leaders of the Armed Forces (ABRI) to beware of "snipers" or civilians who try to tarnish ABRI's name by taking unauthorized measures on some sensitive subjects.
He also called on the authorities to explain the procedures and regulations that preachers have to follow before delivering Idul Fitri sermons.
"Banning Deliar Noer is proof that the local military office and the mosques don't know the correct procedures," he said. "I believe the local military office acted against their superiors' policies."
He also called on the authorities to "stop being suspicious" of preachers and, instead, to start monitoring their activities through recordings or by taking their pictures.
"Preachers are mere citizens who have the right to legal protection," he said. "This is a law-abiding country...the ban, without any legal grounds, only proved that the law has been trampled by power."
Fatwa said the non-commission officer from the Jakarta military command's intelligence unit who asked to go over the text of his sermon on Thursday admitted he was acting on his own and without orders from his superiors
Fatwa also said that he had sent his text beforehand to various parties, including ABRI's chief of social and political affairs, Lt, Gen. Moh. Ma'ruf, who recently said no Idul Fitri sermons would be banned.
"I even sent a copy to Vice President Try Sutrisno to show that I have nothing to hide," Fatwa said.
His sermon was on the role of science and technology in bringing the country to a better future. He had no problems delivering the sermon on the Cikini school ground. (30)