President renews call for diversity
President renews call for diversity
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his call for
the nation to accept diversity in religion, ethnicity and
cultural background as a heavenly blessing and urged people not
to force their will against each other in the name of religion.
Speaking in a 90-minute dialog with the non-Muslim community
and leaders of women's organizations, the President said
worshipers of any religion deserved equal opportunity to practice
their faith, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs should give
them equal treatment.
"It is just normal that the Ministry of Religious Affairs is
dominated by Muslims. But that does not mean that it eliminates
other people's rights," the President said, amid a warm applause
from the audience who packed the Pola building, near the
Proclamation Statue in Central Jakarta.
The dialog, broadcasted live by state-run channel TVRI,
followed the President's promise to hold regular dialogs with
society. He regularly holds a meeting with Muslims after Friday
prayers.
Muslims make up about 80 percent of Indonesia's population of
210 million, making it the world's largest Muslim country.
Sectarian clashes have rocked the Maluku islands over the past
year, leaving more than 2,000 dead.
Abdurrahman pledged that his government would end state
intervention in religious affairs, including organizational
matters of a religious council, saying religions must be
independent from the state.
"Of course not all citizens understand this. It takes time to
convince them, because many people still believe that religions
must act like an institution," the President said.
During the hearing moderated by acting State Secretary Bondan
Gunawan, Catholic priest Mudji Sutrisno questioned the importance
of the controversial joint ministerial decree issued in 1969 by
the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home
Affairs. It stipulates that the construction of houses of worship
requires prior permission from local residents and afterward a
government permit.
Abdurrahman said he could understand the objection of non-
Muslims to the decree.
"It is not fair if Muslims protest the construction of
churches or other places of worship while there are hundreds of
thousands of mosques built without any permits," Abdurrahman
said.
He said he would not likely revoke the decree in a hasty
manner, but promised to promote his belief that the decree needs
reviewing for the sake of equality.
"I have been President for five months. To convince ulemas,
priests and monks is not easy. It is just as difficult as
convincing bureaucrats," the President said while chuckling.
He later told the audience an anecdote describing how severe
human rights abuse was during the New Order regime.
"Experts and archeologists from all over the world were
frustrated as they failed to identify a mummy in Egypt. But an
Indonesian entered the pyramid and after 30 minutes he left it
and announced the name and birth date of the mummy.
"When the foreign experts asked about his method to interview
the mummy, the Indonesian just replied 'I have worked as a police
officer for 20 years'," he said to the laughter of the audience.
The President also touched on other issues like the
overstaffed State Secretariat.
Abdurrahman disclosed he received many letters from people who
complained about the State Secretariat.
"I am served by 4,000 staff members. The number is so large,
but they often do not know where to deliver my letters," he said.
He smiled when Zumrotin K. Susilo, an executive of the
Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation, complained about the
government dragging its feet in tracing and punishing corruptors.
"Don't forget mbak that the corruptors are very smart about
hiding their wealth ... We know who are the corruptors, but it is
not easy to find the evidence." (prb)