Differences cannot justify conflict, says President

Differences cannot justify conflict, says President

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post/Bogor

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that
pluralism had proven itself to be a blessing for the country
rather than a threat to national unity.

Speaking before participants at the 14th congress of the
Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) here, the President said
that differences in ethnicity or religion could never justify
conflict.

"Pluralism is not a reason for starting a conflict," Susilo
said.

The President opened the congress hours after his arrival home
from Vientiane, where he attended the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

It was the second time in just three days that Susilo attended
a congress hosted by a religious organization after his visit to
the congress of the country's largest Muslim organization,
Nahdlatul Ulama, in the Central Java city of Surakarta, which is
still underway.

The President called on religious leaders to contribute to
nation building in order to prevent conflict among different
groups in the country.

Prolonged conflicts between Christians and Muslims in Maluku
and the North Sulawesi town of Poso between 1999 and 2001 left
thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands more
displaced. Sporadic, lower intensity violence returned to Poso
recently, but has not blown up into communal clashes.

The President also gave a guarantee of justice for and an end
to discrimination against minority groups in the predominantly
Muslim country. Non-Muslims account for 11 percent of the
country's population.

"Discrimination no, social solidarity yes," he said.

Just before he left for the ASEAN summit, Susilo told PGI
chairman Nathan Setiabudi that he had asked the Minister of
Religious Affairs to review a joint ministerial decree on the
construction of places of worship, which Christian leaders say
discriminates against minority groups.

Under the ruling, signed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs
and the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1969, any plan to build a
place of worship, including mosques, churches or temples, must be
approved by the surrounding neighborhood.