NU board to discuss sanctions on dissenters
NU board to discuss sanctions on dissenters
BANDUNG (JP): The executive board of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
under Abdurrahman Wahid will meet in Jakarta on Thursday to
discuss sanctions for NU members who have either joined or
supported a rival board headed by Abu Hasan.
However, Abdurrahman told reporters last Thursday, many of
those who defected to Abu Hasan have since returned to his fold.
"Their number is quite big, the secretary-general is compiling
their data. Obviously, those who have returned to us would not be
punished. We will only give sanctions to those who do not
recognize the result of the Cipasung Congress," he said.
The Cipasung Congress in West Java, 1994, saw the incumbent
Abdurrahman reelected for his third five-year term, in spite of a
strong campaign by Abu Hasan for the post.
Abu Hasan never accepted the congress result, claiming that he
was cheated out of victory. He has since been campaigning to
unseat Abdurrahman.
In January, he organized his own congress in Jakarta,
attracting some NU leaders from various parts of the country. The
congress endorsed him as the chairman of the NU executive board.
The NU is the largest Moslem organization in Indonesia, with
more than 35 million followers. The government has said that it
recognizes only the executive board headed by Abdurrahman.
Abdurrahman declined to say what sanctions await the
supporters of Abu Hasan but said that these are all stated in the
organization's statutes.
In the latest campaign to unseat Abdurrahman, Hamid Baidlowi,
the chairman of the law making board under Abu Hasan, issued on
Tuesday what he called a "white book", which accuses Abdurrahman
of spreading the teaching of Shi'ite, the Islamic sect which
prevails in Iran, and of taking part in international Zionism.
When asked to comment on the book, Gus Dur laughed it off.
"That's no white book. That's a pamphlet."
Most of the accusations made against him in the book were not
new, he said.
"The only thing new is the claim that I financed the building
of a mosque for Shi'ite followers. Now I'd like to ask him the
name and location of the mosque. If he can't answer these, then
he's a liar." (17)