Moslem council plans prayer meeting on Oct. 1

Moslem council plans prayer meeting on Oct. 1

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Moslem Council plans to organize
a prayer meeting on Oct. 1 to mark the victory of Pancasila over
the communist ideology.

Council chairman Hasan Basri told reporters yesterday after
meeting with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace that the
meeting will become an annual event starting this year.

Oct. 1 has been marked each year as Pancasila Sanctity Day. It
was named after the abortive coup attempt by the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) on the night of Sept. 30, 1965.

Each year the official anniversary has been marked solemnly.
This year will be the first time that a prayer is held to mark
the occasion.

The meeting, Hasan said, is intended to remind Moslems in
Indonesia "never to be caught off guard again".

Hasan said President Soeharto has approved of the plan, though
he declined to take an active part in the meeting. "He said that
this should be the initiative of the Moslem community."

The President, however, agreed to make a written statement for
the occasion. "The content will be about the need for us to be
vigilant against this anti-God ideology," he said.

The activities surrounding the anniversary will begin on Sept.
27, with a marching competition for young Moslems, a seminar
involving Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung -- who will
explain the latent dangers of communism -- and other experts.
There will be a photo exhibition, in cooperation with the
Ministry of Information, about the dangers of the PKI, he said.

Hasan reported on the council's plan to build a mosque in
Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, which has been ravaged
by war.

This will be in addition to cash donations raised from
Indonesian Moslems, he said.

He said the war destroyed nearly 1,000 mosques in Sarajevo and
that the Bosnian people welcome the Indonesian offer, which will
come from donations collected nationwide.

"The mosque will be named the Haji Mohamad Soeharto Grand
Mosque," Hasan said.

The name was proposed by the Bosnian leaders who remember
President Soeharto traveling to Sarajevo last year to offer his
good offices in bringing about peace in the region, he said.

"When hearing this, the President said bismillah (in the name
of Allah).

He said mosques throughout Indonesia will be involved in the
fund-raising campaign for the Sarajevo mosque. (emb)