Protesters kept away from Islamic festival opening

Protesters kept away from Islamic festival opening

SURABAYA (JP): President B.J. Habibie arrived here on Saturday
for a traditional festival commemorating early propagators of
Islam, the Wali Sanga.

Aspiring protesters, who staged demonstrations on the past
three days, were deterred not only by security troops but also by
the many civilians guarding the religious event with sharp
weapons.

A group of some 80 activists resorted to approaching a mental
health hospital in Sukolilo area. They demanded that medical
staff "examine" the political behavior of several officials.

However, security personnel could not prevent the "boos"
greeting Habibie's speech, in which he touched on the
presidential election planned for November.

"Whoever becomes the next president... will be entirely
determined by the people's representatives in the People's
Consultative Assembly," Habibie said, addressing a large number
of Islamic boarding school students, from whom the boos came.

The incumbent president, who expressed pride that the
elections went fairly smoothly, is said to have a good chance of
being reelected.

As of Sunday, East Java was the only province in which the
National Awakening Party (PKB) won the polls. Its founder
Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), is the party's presidential candidate.

Islamic parties and others seeking Muslim votes, including
parties set up by different factions within the NU, competed to
win votes among boarding school (pesantren) students in the
province.

The committee chairman of the festival, noted businessman
Fadel Muhammad, said the event was an international one which
would last to July 25.

At least 1,000 stands displaying various crafts have been erected
around the eastern parking lot of Surabaya Plaza. Participants
include neighboring countries, members of the Organization of
Islamic Conference and hundreds of local entrepreneurs.

However, symbols of the nine wali -- Sunan Gresik, Sunan
Ampel, Sunan Bonang, Sunan Drajat, Sunan Giri, Sunan Kalijaga,
Sunan Kudus, Sunan Muria and Sunan Gunung Jati -- were absent at
the festival, as the festival is not supported by the guardians
of the tradition. Religious leader and spokesman of the
guardians, KH Nuh Yusuf, said they rejected the President's
planned visit to the graves of the wali.

He said the visit had nothing to do with the festival which
Habibie officiated. The visit was later canceled.

Accompanied by several ministers and First Lady Hasri Ainun
Habibie, the president called on the public to take the behavior
of the wali as a model for the reform movement.

In introducing Islam, the wali succeeded in a "cultural
approach," the president said, without seeking to impose their
teachings on communities unfamiliar to the religion.

On Friday in Jakarta, Habibie, who turned 63 on that day,
opened the Bung Karno University, which was founded by one of
first president's daughters, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri. Prior to
this, the university, the campus of which is on Jl. Kimia,
Central Jakarta, had failed to secure the required government
permit for 16 years.

"Indonesia's history can not be separated from the services
and concrete works of Bung Karno. I hope the values and spirit of
his struggle --in pioneering the establishment of the state and
the nation -- can be used as input by the Bung Karno University
in managing this university," the President said in his
inauguration speech at the State Palace. (nur/prb)