Govt announces Idul Fitri holiday falls tomorrow

JAKARTA (JP): The government announced the Idul Fitri holiday falls tomorrow after meeting with prominent Moslem groups yesterday.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said yesterday's meeting was held to give formal confirmation of the holiday which marks the completion of 30-day Ramadhan fasting month. Ramadhan started on Jan. 10 this year.

The announcement was broadcast nationwide on TV.

"Both through the sighting of the crescent moon and by calendar estimations issued by all Moslem mass organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, we have agreed to pick Sunday as the start of the month of Syawal," Tarmizi said.

The first day of Syawal marks the date of the Moslem holiday.

Tarmizi said that despite the formality, the meeting remained important as it involves groups form all the sections of society which calculate the date of the holiday.

Moslems calculate the date using the lunar calendar, which is 12 days shorter than the international solar calendar this year. The fasting month can last 29 or 30 days, depending the movement of the moon.

Tarmizi admitted that Idul Fitri in Indonesia could fall on a different day from that in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam.

"This happens because the time difference between West Asia and Southeast Asia is included in the calculations," he said.

Last year Idul Fitri was celebrated on the same day in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Tarmizi also confirmed that the government would not vet sermons to be delivered during Idul Fitri morning prayers tomorrow.

However he was quick to stress that preachers should not discuss issues which might provoke hatred against non-Moslems.

"I believe they (the preachers) are good Indonesians and Moslem devotees who will avoid committing such a wrongdoing," Tarmizi said in a meeting of the women's association of Nahdlatul Ulama and President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana yesterday.

Tarmizi said the preachers were elected by the public, and that their sermons should reflect this. "We expect them to lead society to a bright future peacefully," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He could well have been referring to the ethnic and sectarian- inspired riots that have hit the country since October last year.

In Jakarta 1,200 public and religious leaders will deliver sermons across the city Sunday. No permits are required for a group of people who want to organize their own morning prayers.

In Pekanbaru, Riau, the head of the municipal religious affairs office, Ramli Chatib has ordered all preachers to submit their sermon texts to the local authorities.

Ramli denied the decision was a form of censorship. "The preachers just have to abide by the ruling," he said without further elaboration.

Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau, is home to 900,000 people, 90 percent of whom are Moslems.

In Semarang, Central Java, the secretary of the municipal religious affairs office, Musman, called on all Idul Fitri preachers to pick themes which encourage religious harmony,

He also urged preachers to speak of development achievements and the importance of public participation during the May 28 general election campaign. (amd)