Moslems told to unite to improve their lot

JAKARTA (JP): Poverty and incompetence seem to be the lot of Indonesian Moslems despite their large number and growing political clout, scholars agreed over the weekend.

Adi Sasono of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), Anwar Harjono of the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII) and constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that Moslems should make education and other efforts to build their human resource a priority.

The men were among speakers at Saturday's launch of the book Di Sekitar Lahirnya Republik (Around the Birth of the Republic), jointly written by Anwar Harjono and Lukman Hakiem.

The launch also marked the commemoration of the first congress of Indonesian Moslems in November 1945.

Adi Sasono, who is also director of the Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES), said that poorer Indonesians were more likely to be Moslem while richer people had a greater probability of being non-Moslems.

According to 1996 statistics, 22.4 million Indonesians still live below the poverty line.

Moslems make up 87 percent of Indonesia's population of 200 million. According to 1990 statistics, there were 6.4 million Catholics and 10.8 million Protestants.

Adi also cited a recent study by the Ministry of Religious Affairs which found that Islamic high schools ranked among the lowest in Jakarta's 247 schools. There are 115 state-owned high schools here, 88 Catholic and Protestant schools, and 44 Islamic schools.

The schools were divided into three categories: top, middle and low. Among the 10 best schools in the first category, eight were Catholic and Protestant schools and the remaining two were state-run public schools.

The situation is almost identical for the second and third categories, he said.

In the second category, two Islamic schools -- Al Azhar I and Al Azhar II, ranked 52nd and 63rd from 247 schools. In the third category, Muhammadiyah Islamic schools ranked 164th and 178th.

"It appears that poor education achievement among Moslems goes hand in hand with their poor economic achievement," Adi Sasono said.

Anwar Harjono, who came to the book launch despite his ill- health and being confined to a wheelchair, said Indonesian Moslems need to work harder to build quality human resource.

He also called for unity among Moslems, despite differences between groups and venues.

He suggested a five-point agenda for Indonesian Moslems to meet in order to be able to face future challenges. They include greater effort to build tolerance and respect for other Moslems and prevent conflicts and disintegration.

"Differences in political position should be treated in a way that supports the adage: 'opposition in opinion is a friend in mental exercise'," Anwar said.

He also called for greater efforts to perform amar ma'ruf nahi munkar (encouraging people to do good and preventing them from doing bad).

"Moslems should behave as a social control for all institutions, be they state institutions or other groups," he said. (swe)