Gus Dur, Megawati endorse anti-discrimination drive

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid said on Friday that religion, love and nationalism were capable of dividing people if they were practiced without humanity.

Speaking at the launch of an anti-discrimination movement at his residence in South Jakarta, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) said that religion must not take up an "excessive portion" of a nation's life.

"To eliminate discrimination in Indonesia, we should not let religion take up an excessive portion of our life as a nation," said Abdurrahman after announcing the establishment of the Anti- discrimination Movement (GANDI) which groups activists from various religious and ethnic groups, including Chinese- Indonesians.

"Religion has its own place, but humanity is even more important," he said, adding that he would be proud if, when he died, people wrote in his epitaph: "A humanist died here."

Activists present included Harun Hajadi from Ciputra Development Group and Anton Supit, who chairs the Indonesian Footwear Association, lawyer Frans H. Winarta, and Moslem scholars Mustofa Bisri and Said Agil Siradj from Nahdlatul Ulama.

Chairwoman of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri, who happened to be visiting Abdurrahman, expressed her support for the movement.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said the movement should observe its namesake Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy on humanity.

"He was a man with a noble soul, who sacrificed his life for his people," said Abdurrahman, who has been in poor health for some time.

Megawati said she too respected Mahatma Gandhi's principles, his respect for humanity and his non-violent struggle for the Indian people.

"The PDI never use violence in dealing with others, we are anti-violence," she said.

Abdurrahman concurred and expressed his expectation that the movement would embrace humanity to help others, regardless of their ethnic and religious background.

Anton said the most important task for the movement was to campaign against discrimination.

"Every minority group, no matter how small, can contribute and enrich the country," he said.

The movement will also work to "identify and analyze" discriminatory laws and regulations and submit their findings to the government.

The group also plans to push the government to ratify international conventions against discrimination and will encourage it to pursue policies which support equal rights in the community.

Finally, the movement will promote the values of anti- discrimination by encouraging "open" public dialogues.

Leo Suryadinata, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore said last month that Chinese-Indonesians make up three percent to four percent (six to eight million) of Indonesia's population of 202 million.

However, Leo pointed out that the Chinese-Indonesians were not really a minority because they were the third largest ethnic group in the country after the Javanese and Sundanese. (01)