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.