NU dissenters to set up rival chapter board
NU dissenters to set up rival chapter board
SURABAYA (JP): Breakaway leaders in Indonesia's largest Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are preparing to establish a rival chapter in East Java.
K.H. Hasib Wahab, the deputy chairman appointed to the rival central board established last month, as well as an NU leader in East Java, announced yesterday their plan to set up the new chapter.
"East Java is the first priority," he told The Jakarta Post. "Now we are opening registration for those who want to become members."
The province has long been considered an NU stronghold.
Hasib, the kyai, or head, of the Bahrul Ulum Pesantren (an Islamic boarding school), said his plan was in line with the results of the extraordinary congress and a leadership meeting that followed. Both events were organized by Abu Hasan, a leading dissenter who lost the 1994 chairmanship race to incumbent chairman Abdurrahman Wahid.
Hasib also declared his readiness to be the chairman of the chapter's Tanfidziyah (executive board). He also named several other NU leaders, including Arifin Khan, Much. Baidlowi, H. Nilam and As'ad Umar, as prospective board members.
Hasib and the people he named are known to disagree with the leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur.
Both Hasib and Abdurrahman have lineage -- an important factor in the organization's leadership -- tracing back to NU's founding fathers. Abdurrahman is the grandson of revered scholar K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari, while Hasib is a son of Wahab Hasbullah who was similarly respected.
Hasib and Yusuf Hasyim, an uncle of Abdurrahman Wahid, established a communication forum last year for NU children, known as FKPPNU, which campaigned against Abdurrahman.
Hasib said yesterday he will soon meet with East Java Governor Basofi Sudirman for a "consultation". He also vowed to proceed with the plan even if the governor, in his capacity as "the patron of the regional political development", refused to "bless" his move.
"We are only trying to do good, so why would anyone prevent us from doing so?" he said.
H.M. Sholeh Hayat, an NU leader in Abdurrahman's camp, expressed disbelief at Hasib's maneuver.
"He shouldn't try to awaken a sleeping tiger," he said. "This rival chapter board won't get any support (from NU members here)."
Sholeh said that most of Hasib's colleagues in the Bahrul Ulum school have already pledged their allegiance toward Abdurrahman.
"Hasib is taking a great risk," Sholeh said. He accused Hasib and his camp of overstepping boundaries and said that they should be dismissed from the organization.
Sholeh, who is the chairman of NU's East Java chapter, also criticized the government's ambiguous response to the rift in the 70-year-old organization.
The fact that Abu Hasan could hold a congress, establish a rival central board and later hold a meeting is proof of the government's unclear stance, he said.
Basofi also objected to the development.
"I'm fed up with all this rival leadership business," he said on Tuesday. "I really don't understand why people love to do these things."
Basofi has for the past several years had his hands full with the infighting in the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
He also denied having received Hasib's request for a meeting.
Basofi added that if the dissenters come to see him, he'll simply tell them to meet with NU leaders from Abdurrahman's camp in the province. "This way they'll know for themselves how NU members here feel about them," he said.(15/swe)