Noted religious leaders to make first Ambon visit
Noted religious leaders to make first Ambon visit
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After three months of delay, prominent religious leaders in
the country were set to make an unprecedented visit to riot-torn
Ambon in Maluku on Monday, a noted Muslim leader said on
Saturday.
"The visit is a follow-up to the Malino peace agreement signed
early this year," Syafiie Maarif, chairman of Indonesia's second
largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesia's largest Muslim organization is Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU). NU and Muhammadiyah claim a membership of 40 million and 30
million, respectively.
The Ambon visit, the first ever conducted by the religious
leaders, would be held for one or two days, said Syafiie.
According to Syafiie, the sectarian conflict that still grips
Ambon despite the landmark Malino agreement, has been a cause for
concern for religious leaders.
Fresh small-scale sectarian clashes have occurred in the city
since the signing of the peace agreement.
A bomb exploded in the Maluku governor's office in Ambon
earlier this month that was feared may trigger other larger-scale
conflicts.
"By visiting the areas of conflict, the religious leaders aim
to raise the awareness among the local people that the warring
camps have nothing to gain from the clashes," said Syafiie.
Syafiie said the national religious leaders would meet local
public figures, government officials and religious leaders to
drum up the call for peace there.
As previously reported, NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said that
the religious leaders would include, among others, Syafiie,
Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid,
Chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) Y.
Rewangu, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla
and Muzadi himself.
The visit was first planned on Jan. 2 during a historic
meeting between Syafiie and Muzadi in Jakarta, which led to a
joint declaration to respect plurality, among other things.
However, Syafiie said on Saturday that he was unable to join
the other religious leaders on Monday, since he was busy with the
internal affairs of Muhammadiyah.
He said that Muhammadiyah would be represented by its
executives G. Zubaer and Amin Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Muzadi said that the religious leaders finally
decided to go ahead with the visit because the local religious
leaders were not strong enough to resist provocation from
irresponsible parties attempting to intentionally prolong the
conflict.
Worse than that, the local religious leaders have even become
embroiled in the conflict themselves, he said.
The visit constitutes a last ditch attempt taken by the
religious leaders to help stifle sectarian conflict plaguing the
island after government efforts have largely failed.
Thousands of locals, both Muslims and Christians, have been
killed in the bitter conflict.