Moslem students told to help prevent unrest

Moslem students told to help prevent unrest

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto called on Moslem students
yesterday to help prevent social unrest and not let their hearts
rule their heads.

"I expect you to continue to maintain a clear thinking process
and exercise restraint in facing any problems in society,"
Soeharto told a 50th-anniversary celebration of the Indonesian
Moslem Students Association (HMI).

Soeharto said that developing a multifaceted society such as
Indonesia, which is the world's largest Moslem nation, was not an
easy task.

"We have to be good at developing patience, maintaining
clarity of thought and not be easily drawn into matters that are
emotional in nature," Soeharto said.

The country's development had created an imbalance between
those who had been able to profit from the advances and those who
had been left behind, he said.

"This reality should not be covered up but should also not
been overblown to provoke unrest," Soeharto said.

What was important, he said, was that efforts were being made
to address the imbalance.

The anniversary celebration was also attended by State
Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tanjung and Minister of Finance
Mar'ie Muhammad. Both are former members of the association.

Indonesia has been rocked by ethnic and religious unrest in
recent months that has claimed scores of lives and caused
widespread damage.

Analysts say that social disparity has been at the root of the
unrest that has degenerated into ethnic and religious violence.
A series of disturbances in Java since October has targeted
ethnic Chinese and non-Moslems, while unrest in East Timor have
targeted migrant Moslems.

Protracted violence in West Kalimantan took place from late
December until February between indigenous Dayaks, who are mostly
Catholics, and the migrant Madurese from East Java who are mostly
Moslems.

No official death toll has been released but the army said at
one stage that 300 people had been killed. More than 9,000
people, mostly Madurese, are still living in shelters provided by
the military after the Dayaks attacked and burned down their
homes.

Some 87 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people are Moslem.

During the commemoration yesterday, President Soeharto also
presented an achievement award to the late Lafran Pane, a co-
founder of the association. His son, Mohammad Iqbal Pane,
accepted the honor on his father's behalf.

The association's chairman, Taufik Hidayat, declared in his
speech that the organization would stick to its original mission,
namely providing Moslem students with an independent student
organization. The association, therefore, would not affiliate
itself to any political organization, he said.

"We need to clarify this in reply to criticism that HMI is too
close to the bureaucracy. For HMI ... politics is not forbidden.
It is noble if it is based on ethics and if it aims to uphold
truth and justice," he said.

"HMI will always support the government in its search for
truth and justice. However, it will also stand in the forefront
of efforts to oppose corrupt and deviant officials," he said.
(swe)