NU concerned about growth of violence in 1996

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's largest Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which had members implicated in recent religious tensions, expressed concern yesterday about the increase of violence over the past year.

The central board of the 30-million-member NU issued its year end evaluation yesterday which addressed the increase in violence over the year and warned about its impact on the nation.

"We noted the increase in violence over the whole year," the organization said in a statement co-signed by NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid and secretary-general Ahmad Bagdja.

The statement was read by deputy secretary-general Arifin Junaidi. Attending was KH Ilyas Ruchiyat, the chairman of the law-making Syuriyah arm of the organization. Abdurrahman was absent.

The statement paid special attention to the July 27 riots in Jakarta which claimed at least five lives, the Oct. 10 riot in the East Java town of Situbondo that caused five deaths, and most recently, the Dec. 26 unrest in Tasikmalaya, West Java, which claimed four lives.

The two later riots, involving students from Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) run by NU, were purely criminal, the organization said, and did not erupt out of religious hatred.

"We agree with the Tasikmalaya authorities that the riot was not directly linked to the pesantren," the statement said.

Earlier on, Abdurrahman Wahid had said only three santri (students of the Islamic boarding school) were involved in the riot. "Their involvement was insignificant, they were found only throwing stones at the buildings," Abdurrahman said.

The organization called on everybody to place the national interest above individual or group interests. It also called on people to engage only in "political tradition based on ethics, moral values, norms and with good manners."

The organization, which has strong support from the rural population, called on the government to restore the civil rights that have so far been denied: namely, the right to assemble and to express opinions.

On the general elections, to be held on May 29, 1997, the organization called for all members to vote. "The success of the general election...will be measured by how every element of the nation carries out his or her obligations well," the statement said.

Nahdlatul Ulama also called for better law enforcement.

"Various...violent actions occurred because the law was not upheld and people were not given a sense of security and safety," the statement said.

"The law was only used to protect certain groups in society while neglecting others. The law has become a tool for those in power." (imn)