Clerics vow action on terrorism
Clerics vow action on terrorism
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
Asia-Pacific religious leaders wrapped up a two-day meeting here
on Tuesday, vowing action to curb the causes of terrorism and
recommending the establishment of a center to promote moderate
spiritual beliefs.
"We hope to be able to establish such a center in three to six
months time in Yogyakarta," dialog organizing committee chairman
Din Syamsuddin told a news conference after the meeting.
The permanent center was proposed by President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono when opening the International Dialogue on Interfaith
Cooperation on Monday.
Reading out a statement issued by 124 delegates from 10 major
faiths attending the event in Yogyakarta, the forum of Muslim
ulemas, Catholic cardinals, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews
and Confucionists condemned extremism and pledged to strengthen
interfaith ties.
"Delegates affirmed their strong condemnation of violence and
terrorism. Participants committed themselves to taking action in
their own communities to further promote interfaith and inter-
communal harmony," the statement said.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, has
been rocked by a series of bloody sectarian clashes between
Christians and Muslims as well as deadly attacks blamed on Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI).
The attacks included the October 2002 Bali bombings in which
202 people died, last year's deadly JW Marriott Hotel blast in
Jakarta, and a September attack on the Australian Embassy that
killed 12.
Elsewhere in Asia, Buddhist Thailand is fighting an
increasingly bloody insurgency in its southern Islamic provinces
while the Philippines has been plagued by a Muslim rebellion for
decades.
"Terrorism must be regarded as an enemy of all religions.
Terrorists are well-organized, well-funded and highly skilled in
spreading mayhem and fear through the slaughter of the innocent,"
Susilo said in his opening speech.
Delegates from 13 countries agreed that terrorism had no roots
in religion and that it went against the morality of all faiths.
"The basis of terrorism is structural injustices in societies
while at the same time people feel they have no other way to
address the issue," said Australian delegate Sister Patricia
Madigan of the Bishop's Advisory Committee for Ecumenical and
Interfaith Relations based in Sydney.
She said that through interfaith dialogs, peaceful life would
follow. "This dialog is a good adventure as it has brought us
together to learn about each other, to make friends and contacts
that will help us build more harmonious societies in the region."
Mgt. Rey Manuel S. Monsanto, from the Philippines' Bishop-
Ulema Conference, similarly said interfaith dialogs have helped
create good relationships and understanding between Muslim muftis
and Catholic priests in Mindanao.
"We are now in the process of transforming this into the lower
levels, which is indeed not an easy task," he said.
Din said the dialog, co-sponsored by Indonesia and Australia,
achieved its main objective of promoting understanding and
fostering harmony among communities of different faiths across
the region.
"We see this meeting as the beginning of a process of more
direct and frequent communication between regional faith leaders
in solving problems and building a more harmonious and peaceful
future for the region," he said.