Councilor backs call to scrap new haj rules

JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) faction of the City Council has backed a call by haj instructors to scrap a numerical system for grouping pilgrims.

The faction's head, Councilor Achmad Suaidy, said yesterday that the municipality's new system failed to place emphasis on family and affinity groupings.

"There will be pilgrims who will become victims of the system," he said.

"Their pilgrimage will not go smoothly because they are not accompanied by relatives or haj instructors in the same group."

Achmad said the city's religious affairs office should review the new regulation.

On Tuesday, about 2,000 haj instructors staged a rally in front of the religious affairs office in East Jakarta and called on the municipality to revoke the regulation.

The instructors, who are from the city's five mayoralties, called themselves the Communication Forum of Instructors and Consultants for Haj Pilgrims.

A spokeswoman for the forum, Suryani Qoidir, said Tuesday that the new city regulation, which groups pilgrims from lists provided by banks, has produced "absolutely unfair" results.

"Spouses have been separated even though they enrolled at the same bank," she said. "I just don't understand."

Suryani said that if pilgrims were put in groups based on family and affinity connections, as before, it would prevent confusion and hardship during the pilgrimage.

Achmad said that the PPP faction backed the protesters' demand "but I hope the protest will not become negative, with people boycotting the pilgrimage."

He said that the city's religious affairs office should discuss the issue with the forum.

"The office should take note of the forum's concerns," he said. (ind)