Muslems celebrate Idul Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): Moslems across the country celebrated Sunday the post-Ramadhan holiday immediately after saying the Idul Fitri prayers highlighted by preachers' calls for national unity and religious co-existence.

Hundreds of thousands of people in their best clothes joined President Soeharto, Vice President Try Sutrisno and senior government officials and foreign dignitaries when they said their prayer at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque, Central Jakarta.

In his sermon deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas Ali Yafie called for respect for other people regardless of skin color, dialect, culture or religion.

"We should unite, as Prophet Muhammad has taught us. We need to understand that despite diversity we need to stay together," Ali Yafie said.

Moslems make up 87.2 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people. Over the past two years and the last several months in particular, Indonesia has been jolted with ethnic and sectarian violence.

Some ten kilometers away, tens of thousands of people said the Idul Fitri prayer in the eastern Senayan parking lot and listened to a humorous sermon by renowned preacher K.H. Zainuddin M.Z.

President Soeharto and his family marked the first Idul Fitri without First Lady Tien Soeharto, who died last April.

In a moving Javanese sungkeman tradition at his residence, President Soeharto sat alone receiving his children and grandchildren paying their respects, and blessed them in return. Led by eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, the family members placed their hands in supplication on Soeharto's knees, received a kiss on each cheek and a pat on the back before embracing him warmly.

The same ceremony took place at Try Sutrisno's residence.

Later the two state leaders received cabinet ministers and other high-ranking officials and foreign dignitaries delivering their Idul Fitri greetings.

The festive occasion was marked by children in colorful clothes and adults carrying rantang (stacked canisters) loaded with food while visiting each other to deliver well wishes.

It was also marked by people visiting the relatives' graves, turning cemeteries into a lucrative business for grave sweepers as well as those who got paid saying prayers for the dead.

Those with their own transport did well Sunday but thousands had to wait for hours and jostle before boarding packed buses. Taxi drivers had a field-day, refusing to use their meters and demanding exorbitant fees.

People greeted each other with Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin, an Arabic expression which is a prayer that fasting has purified them and Allah bestowed on them His heavenly reward for the month of self denial.

Here, however, people took the expression as asking for forgiveness for past sins and mistakes, unintentional and deliberate, and to start afresh. Some people added Taqabalallahu minna wa minkum, meaning "May Allah receive our efforts to worship Him."

Regions

Preachers in various parts of the country -- including Java, East Timor, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Maluku -- used the day to hammer home the need for Indonesians to live harmoniously.

Surabaya preachers Dr. Roem Rowie, for instance, said violence committed by Moslems in several regions was caused by their poor understanding of Islam because Islam teaches unity.

"If only Moslems understood that Islam is a blessing for this country, the unrest would not have taken place," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Hundreds of soaked inmates in an Ujungpandang prison, South Sulawesi, brushed away tears as they listened to a preacher call for repentance.

In some places, joy turned to horror because of fatal traffic accidents. At least 32 people died and five were missing in several accidents during celebrations in West and Central Java.

A minibus bound for Bandung plunged into a ravine at Cijapati village in Garut, West Java. Fifteen people were killed instantly including a three-month-old baby named Irwan.

Another five died at Garut hospital, where the remaining 15 were being treated.

Witnesses said the bus ran uncontrolled after hitting bamboo trees on a sloping curve before plunging into the ravine.

The accident forced police to detour traffic connecting Garut and Bandung to the old route via Nagrek.

Elsewhere yesterday, seven members of a family were among 11 deaths in a road accident on Java's northern coast route at Jatianom village, Cirebon, when a minibus and a van collided.

A survivor from the minibus said the van sped to overtake a truck only to find the packed bus coming from the opposite direction. Those injured were being treated at the Arjawinangun Public Hospital.

Chief of Cirebon police precinct Lt. Col. Ade Rahardja said the Jatianom village and its surroundings were renowned as "the fatigue route" and were prone to road accidents.

"Drivers coming from Jakarta usually become exhausted after four or five hours of driving," Ade said. "Besides, drivers tend to speed up because the road is clear."

In Central Java, a man died and another five were missing in three water accidents. Tarmo, 40, and his wife of Wanabala village, Tegal, were carried away by a furious Kaligung river while on their way to a neighboring village across the river for an Idul Fitri celebration. Wanabala villagers discovered Tarmo's body but not his wife's.

In Wonogiri, Dukwati villager Parni and her two children, Muryani, 6, and Makdun, 3, were feared dead when a broken wooden bridge collapsed under them causing them to fall into a turbulent river. Local residents saved Parni's eldest daughter Rita, 9, and are searching for the missing family.

The Kedungombo dam in Boyolali added to the list of casualties when a boat with six people aboard capsized. Five survived but Purwanto, the only one who could not swim, was missing. (team)

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Ramadhan -- Page 4

Malaysia -- Page 5