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)