Church warns of rumors amid economic crisis

JAKARTA (JP): An influential religious organization warned yesterday against divisive rumors exploiting drought-related problems as well as the financial crisis that rocked the country recently.

Mgr. Josep Suwatan, the newly elected chairman of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), said people should learn to "share another's trials and tribulations" and to "refrain from blaming one another" for the nation's current misfortune.

Suwatan also said the government should pay adequate attention to the aspirations, restlessness, and plight of the people, especially youth.

Accompanied by the organization's new secretary-general, Mgr. Johannes Hadiwikarta, Suwatan said that despite a spate of religious-orientated riots over the past year, relations between different religions have been good.

"None of the leaders of the other religions that we met ever wanted those riots to happen. Religious harmony has always been there for all of us to foster," he said.

"But we have to be aware of the political elements that disturbed the harmony... the riots that occurred so suddenly and no one knew why. We must remain on alert," Suwatan said.

At least three major riots rocked the country last year and early this year, claiming the lives of several innocent people and resulting in the demolition of scores of religious and public buildings.

The first riot took place in Situbondo, a small town in East Java, in October last year where three people were killed. It was followed about two months later by a similar riot in the West Java town of Tasikmalaya in which five were killed.

Another religious-orientated riot took place earlier this year in Rengasdengklok, West Java, in which hundreds of homes belonging to people of Chinese descent were torched. No deaths were reported.

Many observers have expressed concern that social unrest will continue to grow in the next few months as the effects of the economic crisis, the severe drought and the haze caused by forest fires adds to people's frustration.

In a statement read by Suwatan, the conference called on the nation to be "steadfast, patient, and strong in faith" in face of the crisis, and not to be provoked into rioting.

"We should instead foster unity, brotherhood, and solidarity... (and) share with those in need, without letting religious, ethnic, or primordial matters come between us," the statement read.

The statement continued: "We are aware that we (the nation) are now facing a crisis. As the government has been responsive in dealing with the currency crisis by introducing a new monetary policy, we hope the government will also be responsive in dealing with other sources of the crisis."

Suwatan said "other sources of the crisis" included rampant collusion and corruption practices plaguing the country.

"The government must understand and address these problems, and anticipate them well to avoid upheavals... Even (dealing with) these crises will become a turning point for the nation to correct itself and leap toward progress," the statement said. (aan)