NU chairman visits riot-hit Pasuruan

PASURUAN, East Java (JP): In an effort to restore its badly dented image after three days of clashes in Pasuruan, the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) showed its human face on Friday in the form of a visit by its chairman Hasyim Muzadi to damaged churches and the relatives of a local killed by the police during the disturbances.

Hasyim, accompanied by the chairman of the East Java chapter of the NU, Ali Maschan Moesa, the Rev. Wismo Hadi of the East Java chapter of Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), and Father Eko Budi Susilo of the Indonesian Conference of Churches (KWI), handed over Rp 2 million for the relatives of Fathan, the man killed during the riots, another Rp 2 million in cash for the rehabilitation of the churches and Rp 10 million for the repair of Muhammadiyah school buildings destroyed during the unrest.

Pasuruan mayor Aminur Rahman and other local religious figures were also on hand.

"I'm very sad to see all of this. The people's aspirations have been diverted along the path of religious violence by certain people. This is all the result of the bickering among the politicians in Jakarta, who always use the people in their jockeying for power," Hasyim said at the burned-out Protestant church.

The church had been torched, while St. Anthony's Catholic church and another Protestant church were vandalized, during the disturbances which erupted after the issuance of President Abdurrahman Wahid's executive order, or Maklumat, on Monday.

Some other towns in East Java, known as a hotbed of support for President Abdurrahman, have also been tense over the past four days.

Father Eko Budi said that the desecration of the churches had allegedly been perpetrated by a third party eager to stir up interreligious conflict.

"We hope that all religious figures will encourage their followers to avoid all kinds of religious discord. We also hope that all people of religion will not let themselves be easily stirred up," Father Eko said.

National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro had issued a shoot-on-sight order to his men against any persons attempting to occupy strategic locations.

The manner in which the Pasuruan police handled the violence, which resulted in the death of one person (Fathan) from gunshot wounds and the hospitalization of four others, has been criticized by President Abdurrahman.

The police, however, hit back saying that everything they did to curb the disturbances in various parts of the country was based on standard police procedures.

Upon his arrival at the Muhammadiyah school buildings which had also been vandalized by the mob during the rioting, Hasyim met with the chairman of the Pasuruan Muhammadiyah chapter, Imam Ghazali, and presented him with Rp 10 million in cash to be put toward their repair.

Yogyakarta

The violence occurring in East Java has drawn expressions of concern from other areas, including West Java and Yogyakarta.

On Friday, some 25 organizations in Yogyakarta, grouped in the Anti-Violence Civil Coalition, declared their opposition against all forms of violence and brutality.

They also called on politicians to adhere to democracy in order to prevent a return of the military to national politics.

"The current (national) situation where violence has increased significantly does not bode well for the transition to democracy," said Djuwarto, the group's spokesman.

Speaking at a media conference at Gadjah Mada University's Center for Rural and Regional Development Studies, Djuwarto said that the escalating conflict between the legislature and the executive had triggered violence at the grassroots level.

"The conflict among the members of the political elite serves only to prolong the political uncertainty," he said. "If the present chaotic situation continues, the military will become involved in politics again. This is what we must avoid," he asserted.

Many prominent Yogyakarta figures, including Yogyakarta Humanist Committee (KKY) activists J. Nasikun and Susetiawan, Believers' Brotherhood Forum (FPUB) activist Father Suyatno, and the National Awakening Party (PKB) provincial chapter's secretary, Nur Ahmad Affandi, attended the press conference. (nur/23/sur)