Hindus threaten massive strike
JAKARTA (JP): A Balinese activist who coordinated this week's series of protests against a cabinet minister on Bali said on Saturday that he planned to call a general strike among all Hindus in Indonesia unless their demands were met.
I Nyoman Japa, field coordinator of the protests, said the government had one month to respond to their demands which include the resignation of the minister concerned and his prosecution.
"If not, all Hindus throughout Indonesia will escalate their actions. A call for a general strike will also be considered," Japa was quoted by Antara as saying in Denpasar, capital of Bali.
Predominantly Hindu Bali has been rocked by protests against State Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin for remarks considered contemptuous of their religion.
In his remarks on next year's presidential election, Saefuddin of the minority United Development Party (PPP) said that he would make a better presidential candidate than Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Perjuangan.
Contending that Megawati was a Hindu, he questioned whether predominantly Moslem Indonesia would accept a non-Moslem president.
Megawati, who is a Moslem, has not responded to the challenge, but thousands of Hindu Balinese in Bali and elsewhere in the country have publicly condemned Saefuddin's remarks.
They consider Saefuddin's apology, made last week, as insufficient, and have demanded that he retract the remark and make an open apology to all Hindus.
Joining the fray of protests on Saturday were employees of seven luxury hotels from the Nusa Dua beach resort, who visited the Bali Governor's Office, appealing to everyone to work toward preserving national unity and to fight against any form of discrimination, the news agency said.
They also appealed for restraint, saying the protests could disrupt tourism, peace and security, relations between the various religious communities on Bali and the island's image as a major tourist center.
Japa said, however, that he had received widespread support from local leaders on Bali and Hindu leaders on the island and elsewhere in Indonesia for his plan to call a general strike.
He said a general strike would not be that different from the Hindu's Beratha Penyepian concept which forms the basis of the Balinese's Nyepi (Day of Silence) holiday.
The concept says that on Nyepi, Hindus must refrain from work, travel, entertainment and using light or fire.
"We just have to set the D Day. Every Hindu in Indonesia is just waiting for the command," Japa said, adding that this was considered the best form of protest because it was peaceful.
Japa said his group was organizing massive protests on Bali on Wednesday to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the nation's Youth Pledge.
The pledge of "One Country, One Nation and One Language: Indonesia", was made by a group of youths during the Dutch colonial era in 1928. It became the battle cry for the independence movement.
Japa said the protests were not politically motivated and did not necessarily reflect the Balinese support for Megawati as a presidential candidate. "Saefuddin has slighted the Hindu community," he said.
Megawati, a daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno, was reelected as chairwoman of the PDI Perjuangan during a congress on Bali this month. The party also named her as its candidate for the presidential election scheduled next year.
A leader of the minority Moslem community on Bali said Saefuddin had crossed the line from politics to religion.
"Saefuddin has set off a short circuit, and Hindus have been at the receiving end. It's natural that the Hindu community feels hurt," Sunhadji Rafii, the chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, was quoted by Antara as saying in Denpasar. (emb)