Moslems told to preserve unity
PROBOLINGGO, East Java (JP): President Soeharto yesterday reminded Indonesia's Moslems of their duty to preserve the unity of the nation in which people from other faiths, traditions and cultures also live.
"Given the diversity of our nation, we have to strive to preserve unity and cohesion," Soeharto said in an address to gathering of leaders of pesantren (Moslem boarding schools) associated with the powerful Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Moslems are called upon to forge common understandings with other communities, he said.
These shared perceptions should be the base on which harmonious relations are built so that people in Indonesia can live in mutual love and shed all suspicions and enmity.
The President's speech came at the heels of a series of attacks against churches over the past year, which threaten to undermine precarious relations between the various religious communities.
The latest attacks happened last month in Situbondo, about 100 kilometers from here. Five people were killed when several churches, a temple and a number of government buildings were torched by a mob. Police are still investigating the riot.
Soeharto received a warm reception from the estimated 1,000 participants as he arrived at the Zainul Hasan Genggong pesantren. He was met by NU chief advisor Ilyas Ruchiyat and chairman Abdurrahman Wahid.
This was the first encounter between Soeharto and Abdurrahman since the latter was reelected to the NU, a powerful Moslem sociopolitical organization with an estimated 35-30 million loyal followers, in December 1994.
Abdurrahman had not been granted an audience at the presidential palace, a tradition for newly elected or reelected leaders of major organizations. Informed sources said the NU chairman canceled a trip to Germany to be here yesterday.
Traveling with the President from Jakarta were Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, and his eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana. East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman joined the entourage in Surabaya.
The President called on leaders of the Moslem boarding schools to adapt to the changes of time. "As traditional education institutions which have passed from generation to generation, the pesantren should open themselves to change," he said.
No one can withstand the force of change, he said. "The pesantren should no longer isolate themselves the way they did during the colonial era," he said.
"Now, the pesantren has ample opportunity of participating in the advancement of the nation, not only in education and religious propagation, but also in social and economic fields," he said.
Agriculture, rural development and the opening of new settlement areas are some of the fields in which pesantren could take part, he said.
Soeharto paid tribute to the role the pesantren played during the colonial rule, in the fight for independence, and in promoting education over the last 30 years.
Most of all, he praised the pesantren's contribution toward "sowing the seeds of love" through their education. (26/emb)