Muslims stage major rally against radicalism, terrorism

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."