Muslims stage major rally against radicalism, terrorism

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid led thousands of Muslims in a march through the capital on Sunday to promote "Islam for Peace" and counter militant ideas.

The march went from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta to the parking lot of Senayan stadium in the south of the city. Participants condemned militants who justified their violent actions by invoking the name of Islam.

"There are many people who try to legitimize violence against others by using the name of Islam, but Islam never teaches radicalism," Gus Dur, also a former leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation's largest Muslim organization, told the crowd.

"The true face of Islam is one of a religion that promotes peace. People who try and get us to commit violence against others, claiming such violence is part of jihad, are using false Islamic teachings," he said.

The rally, participated in by a number of moderate Muslim groups, was organized by Gus Dur's National Awakening Party (PKB). The organizing committee claimed some 12,000 people attended the rally.

The chairwoman of the event's organizing committee, and the deputy PKB secretary general, Zannuba "Yenny" Arifah Chafsoh Rahman, said the event was organized to counter a rise in radicalism by militant Muslims who carried out terrorist attacks in the name of Islam.

"With this event, we want to show the public that the moderates are truly dominant among Indonesian Muslims," said Yenny, who is also Gus Dur's daughter.

"We will rally again and again to counter radical groups," she promised. Hard-line groups frequently take to the streets to stage rallies to promote their extremist ideas.

Yenny said Sunday's rally was to promote a moderate Islam in Indonesia, that tolerated other beliefs and fostered peace among all peoples.

In addition to Gus Dur, several other clerics took part in the event, during which dozens of pigeons symbolizing peace were released, as well as balloons that carried the words "Islam for Peace".

The marchers issued a manifesto that was read by Abdul Hay Naim, a charismatic Betawi cleric from the Darut Tahzib Islamic group.

The manifesto rejected the misuse of Islam to harm others, non-Muslim in particular.

Gus Dur also used the event to criticize any government attempt to fingerprint students at Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren, as part of its fight against terrorism.

"It would not be wise for the government to do this because pesantren should be respected as places where students can learn about a peaceful Islam," he said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has discussed the idea of fingerprinting pesantren students, but police denied any such effort was planned following protests from Muslim scholars and the schools.

Gur Dur, widely known as a pluralist, also urged the government to maintain security during the Christmas holiday. "It is the government's responsibility to protect all citizens, regardless of their religion, race or ethnicity, during Christmas."

On Christmas Eve in 2000, dozens of churches were bombed in Jakarta and several other towns, killing 19 people.

Elsewhere in Jakarta, members of the Hizbut Tahrir group staged a rally on Sunday against the government's war on terrorism, which they said was part of an effort to discredit and weaken Islam.

"We believe the current war on terrorism is propaganda aimed at cornering Islam as a religion for peace. Therefore, we must take a stand against this propaganda," said Hizbut Tahrir chairman Achmad Junaidi Ath Thayyibiy.

The rally was held in front of the presidential palace in Central Jakarta. The demonstrators waved banners, some reading, "Jihad is not part of terrorism and terrorism is not part of jihad," and "Pesantren not a hotbed for terrorism."