Muhammadiyah chief says corruption must be stopped
Muhammadiyah chief says corruption must be stopped
SEMARANG, Central Java: The 28-million strong Muhammadiyah
appealed yesterday to Indonesians to honor independence with an
end to corruption and the abuse of power.
Chief of the Moslem organization Amien Rais said after
celebrating the country's 50th anniversary on Aug. 17 that
Indonesians should shun all forms of "treason" and "decadence".
"We need to think and act clean," Amien said in an anniversary
workshop, which also featured prominent human rights activist
Muladi and intellectual Darmanto Jatman.
The workshop was a forum for reflection after Indonesia's 50
years of independence and 350 years of colonization.
Amien, also a well-known political scholar from Yogyakarta's
Gadjah Mada University, pointed out that a number of social ills,
most notably corruption and power abuse, remain prevalent in
Indonesia.
"Many are corrupt. Some people destroy forests on the pretext
that they are improving the people's well-being, while in fact
they are ruining our children's future," he said. "These
irresponsible people are in fact our common enemy."
Muhammadiyah, dubbed a Moslem "reformist" group with its main
base in urban areas, also urged bureaucrats to clean up the
government.
Amien warned that the numerous social problems that stem from
injustices could threaten Indonesian unity. He pointed out that
Indonesia could disintegrate like Russia and the former republics
of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
Many countries envy Indonesia for its success in economic
development. "Many countries, especially those in Asia and
Africa, have been economically and politically on the decline
since obtaining independence," he said.
Muladi, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
underlined the importance of safeguarding national unity by
discarding ethnic fanaticism.
"If people from a certain ethnic group are in trouble, we
should share their burden. For example, if people from East
Timorese are in trouble we should consider it the problem of the
whole nation," he said.
Muladi, who is the rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
University, agreed that corruption, poverty and human rights
abuses remain a major problem, even after 50 years of
independence.
He pointed out that the problem would be solved if Indonesia
upheld the principle of every citizen being equal before the law.
The workshop attended by about 400 people was also enlivened
by a poetry reading by Islamic teacher Mustafa Bisri from
Rembang, Central Java. (har/pan)