Muhammadiyah condemns invasion of Iraq as rallies continues
Muhammadiyah condemns invasion of Iraq as rallies continues
The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta
The country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah
officially condemned on Monday the United States-led strike on
Iraq, while more people took to streets across the country to
join worldwide rallies against the war.
In a press statement issued in Yogyakarta, Muhammadiyah
chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif said the war in Iraq was nothing
more than a fight between the forces of humanity around the world
and the uncivilized force of the U.S. and its allies.
"This is the war against humanity and civilization. It has
nothing to do with religion, the West or the East," Syafii said.
He said Muhammadiyah also called on all Indonesian people
throughout the country to join in a show of solidarity through
peaceful and non-violent actions.
Muhammadiyah, which boasts 30 million followers, is considered
a moderate Islamic organization and representative of Indonesia's
Muslims along with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim group
in the country.
NU has yet to issue an official statement in response to the
Iraq war, which has now entered its fifth day.
Syafii and NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi were invited to the U.S.
last year in the wake of the global war against terrorism. Both
recently turned down Washington's invitation for another visit to
express their opposition to the U.S. plan to attack Iraq.
Syafii said all attempts to justify the U.S. strike on Iraq
were "nonsensical and irrational".
"I just cannot understand why they ordered all the countries
in the world to expel Iraqi ambassadors from their respective
countries. What an order!" an enraged Syafii quipped.
Muhammadiyah also demanded that major countries opposing the
war like France, China, Russia and Germany exert pressure through
the United Nations or other international institutions on the
U.S. and its allies to halt the offensive on Iraq.
In Jakarta, the House of Representatives joined the chorus of
condemnation of the U.S.-led attack on Iraq and called the
countries to leave Iraq and rebuild the damaged infrastructure
and to provide compensation for the loss of human life.
In its statement signed by Speaker Akbar Tandjung, the House
supported the government's initiative to pursue an emergency
meeting at the UN to stop the war. The legislators also threw
their weight behind antiwar rallies, but called on people to
express their view in line with the law.
The statement was issued after a House leadership meeting
attended by Akbar, his deputy speakers and all faction and
commission leaders.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi)
demanded that Jakarta stop cooperation with Washington under the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and call off
negotiation on cooperation with DFID (Department for
International Development) and the Australia Agency for
International Development (AusAID) to protest against the war.
It also called on prodemocracy and non-governmental
organizations around the world to fight the act of aggression and
imperialistic move by the U.S and its allies.
More rallies against the war were seen in various cities
across the country, including Jakarta, Cirebon, Semarang,
Purwokerto and Makassar.
In the West Java town of Cirebon, hundreds of police were
deployed to guard the British American Tobacco factory, Pizza Hut
and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants and Dunkin' Donuts bakery
in anticipation of rallies targeting U.S. business interests.
In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, students pasted a
sign reading "closed" on the front door of McDonald's fast-food
restaurant in downtown Ciputra shopping mall.
Along with supporters of various parties, the protesters moved
to the legislature, forcing a 30 minute delay in a plenary
meeting to hear the accountability speech of Governor Mardiyanto.
In Jakarta, for the first time since the wave of antiwar
rallies began last Thursday, high school students joined in the
movement.
Dozens of school students grouped under Muhammadiyah Youth
staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka
Selatan, Central Jakarta. But unlike the raucous demonstration
held by Persatuan Islam (Persis), also outside the embassy, the
students expressed their protest with flowers.
While the Muslim activists said the war was targeting Islam,
the students said the war had sacrificed human rights.
In Yogyakarta, police questioned a Spanish student for
participating in an antiwar protest. Police officer Comr. Richard
Nainggolan said the foreign student, identified as Caldo
Bicasalos, had violated his study visa by joining the
demonstration.
Bicasalos, who studies international relations at Gadjah Mada
University's school of social and political sciences, was later
released.