Prayer for peace
Prayer for peace
Given the gravity of the crisis Indonesia is facing today, no
one who craves peace for this country can deny the noble
intentions of the Istigosah (mass prayers) held at the Bung Karno
sports complex in Jakarta on Sunday. The country's economic and
political crises have reached such alarming levels that it is
only fitting the nation turns to the Almighty to ask for peace
and to seek His guidance.
Anyone who truly craves real peace, however, has found it
difficult to share the real motive of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in
holding the mass prayers. Considering its timing, and going by
the various statements of NU leaders before Sunday, the Istigosah
was so politically loaded that it defied its noble intentions.
The mass prayers were held one day before the House of
Representatives was to convene to consider another censure motion
against President Abdurrahman Wahid, who chaired the NU for 15
years before rising to power in 1999. This was no coincidence.
From the beginning, it was made very clear that Sunday's mass
gathering in Jakarta was called to mobilize supporters as a show
of force for the embattled President.
Then, there were the statements by various NU leaders, which
clearly intended to intimidate the President's adversaries. They
included the recruitments of volunteers to "death squads", or
even "suicide squads", to defend the President to the end. NU
leaders, including the President, made no real effort to ease the
concerns and fears of people residing in Jakarta of the
possibility of violence breaking out during or after the mass
gathering.
When the leaders did finally speak out against violence, it
came so late that it sounded more like a precaution to distance
the NU from any violence that might occur.
And then there were the constant denials by the President and
NU leaders that some of the problems facing Indonesia at present
were the result of his leadership. Most of today's problems are
admittedly the legacy of more than three decades of mismanagement
by the regime of former president Soeharto. But rather than ease
the problems, Abdurrahman has aggravated them in the 17 months he
has been in power. Which is why the nation is now in its current
predicament, and which is why the President is now facing
mounting pressure to step down in one way or another, including
the threat of a second censure motion from the House on Monday.
As noble as the intentions may have been, the Istigosah was
nothing more than a political tool of the President and his
supporters in the ongoing power struggle against his adversaries.
It is no wonder that most other political leaders turned down the
invitation to attend the mass prayers. Abdurrahman's Cabinet's
repeated warnings that violence would erupt if the House tried to
impeach the President sounded more like political blackmail than
advice.
Jakarta has been anything but peaceful in the run-up to
Sunday's Istigosah, and in all probability, in the ensuing days.
Fear and restlessness have prevailed. Many residents have left
town for the weekend, many schools have canceled or reduced
classes for the coming week, shopkeepers in Central Jakarta have
removed their goods from their stores and Jakarta residents have
been told to organize neighborhood watches for the coming week.
They have every reason to be concerned. Past experience in
Jakarta and elsewhere in the country shows that it only takes a
small provocation to start a full-scale riot. And we also know
that once all hell breaks loose, there will be very little that
the police and the military can do.
Even if the Istigosah and its aftermath turns out to be
peaceful, and we all hope that it will be, the event has left a
sour aftertaste. We will have no way of knowing whether a prayer
that was politically loaded will ever be answered, but we do hope
that the prayers of those of us who genuinely carve peace for
this country will be heard. Amen.