Fear nothing if you love God

Fear nothing if you love God

True, they are both heads of state, one representing
Indonesia, the other, the tiny state of Vatican City, in Rome,
Italy. They seem to have one thing in common, a love of traveling
around the globe, ignoring warnings that they may encounter
dangers.

President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, has
now embarked again on a tour of a number of European countries,
to confirm that his country is peaceful and that investment is
safe. There are other priorities at home, every schoolchild knows
it. But a handshake with the pope will have a greater effect in
teaching his followers the meaning of religious tolerance. Gus
Dur's visit to Saudi Arabia is aimed at attracting more petro-
dollars.

Gus Dur's departure on Friday took place among rumors that a
Golkar Party member had admitted he knew some people who had
admitted that the recent successive riots and civil strifes in
the country had indeed been orchestrated by people eager to
topple the current administration so that they could come back
here. They were said to include former business tycoons under the
Soeharto's regime and their cronies.

It was Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, on the occasion
of her party's anniversary, during a mass meeting at the Senayan
Stadium, who pledged to combat dissenting elements. She refrained
from mentioning the "provocateurs" who poured in money from
overseas to pay the troublemakers. The story would have sounded
incredible, had it not come from a leading member of the
influential government party, Golkar, and spread around also by a
popular private radio station El Shinta.

Indeed, the flaring up of trouble spots around the country
seems to follow a certain scenario. What I have been suspecting
for a long time is the existence of a financially strong, very
strong I should add, mafia, to discredit Gus Dur's government and
exploit every weakness and bribe every influential source. This
group still has strong connections with the former administration
and is sparing no money or effort to revenge their defeat.
Members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle have
reason to be proud of their chairwoman when Gus Dur said before
departing that he trusted her fully in the command of the
government; perhaps to demonstrate that women are as trustworthy
in the affairs of the state as men.

I only hope that Gus Dur will now stop trying to charter a
vehicle to fly to the moon and planets, just to show to people
that: "fear nothing if you believe in and love God".

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta