NU denies church attacks fueled by religious hatred

NU denies church attacks fueled by religious hatred

JAKARTA (JP): The attack on churches, Christian schools and
public buildings in East Java on Oct. 10 was a criminal act which
was not fueled by religious hatred, an influential Moslem
organization stated yesterday.

Officials of the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama reiterated
their regret over the incident, but insisted that the
organization was not behind the riots which claimed at least five
lives.

"We believe the vandals were not Nahdlatul Ulama members,"
NU Secretary-General Ahmad Bagdja told reporters after meeting a
delegation representing Christian and Catholic organizations.

The delegation consisted of 30 activists from the Movement of
Indonesian Christian Youths, the Association of Indonesian
Christian Intelligentsia, the Indonesian Christian Students
Movement, the Indonesian Catholic Students Association and the
Indonesian Christian Student Senates.

The delegation visited the NU headquarters to hail NU chairman
Abdurrahman Wahid's stance on the tragedy in Situbondo and
surrounding towns.

They said they appreciated Abdurrahman's statement because it
had assured them that it was not religious hatred that had
sparked the violence.

The riots erupted when Situbondo Moslems reacted violently to
what they considered was a lenient jail sentence for a Moslem
sect member charged with blasphemy against Islam.

An angry mob took the law into their own hands when Saleh, the
accused, was sentenced to five years in jail. They reportedly
tried to grab Saleh from the police with the intention of killing
him. They failed.

During the riots, five people burned to death, over 20
churches were torched and several government buildings were
attacked in the East Java town of Situbondo and surrounding
areas.

When asked whether the NUs statement yesterday contradicted
that of NU Chairman Abdurrahman, Ahmad said his statement was the
expression of a responsible chairman who was aware that Situbondo
was predominantly Moslem.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said Monday the incident
was the NU leaders moral responsible because he believed many of
the rioters were NU members. He asked for forgiveness for the
loss inflicted on the government and the public.

The Christian delegation said they hoped the nation could
learn from the incident on the need to improve the quality of
inter-religion relationships.

They also said they hoped that all Christians in Situbondo
would soon be able to visit their churches again without fear.

"We hope that in the long run the same interfaith dialogue can
continue in future, so that all parties will have a better
understanding," the delegation said in a statement.

In a related development, 17 non-governmental organizations
went to the National Commission on Human Rights to demand an open
investigation of the riots.

"Please stop politically summarizing the situation by looking
for scapegoats accused of masterminding the incident, expressing
condolences and investigating it," said Agus Edi Santoso, the
spokesman of the group calling itself the Jakarta NGO Forum for
Human Rights Violations in Situbondo.

He said such an open investigation would teach a political
lesson.

"A secret investigation allows information to be twisted in
ways that are favorable to oppressors," said Agus Edi Santoso,
who is also chairman of the Center for Information and Education
on Human Rights.

Commission member Soegiri told the visiting delegation of NGOs
that the commission would hold a meeting to discuss whether such
an investigation was within the commission's jurisdiction.

Separately, Chief of the Jakarta Regional Military Command
Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso called on Jakarta's religious and public
leaders to help calm the city's residents in view of the
Situbondo riots.

"We expect that a Situbondo-style incident would not occur in
Jakarta," Sutiyoso told religious and public leaders at a meeting
at the Regional Military headquarters yesterday. (imn/14/26)

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