Protests, counter protests continue over Hindu slur

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of Hindus in Bali and hundreds of Moslems in Jakarta staged on Friday separate demonstrations. The first group blasted State Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin for his remark on Hinduism, while the second group was in his defense.

Antara described how the Gilimanuk ferry port -- the only gate for land transportation connecting Bali and Java, stopped operations for three hours because of the demonstration. Clad in colorful traditional costumes, the Hindu protesters congregated in Jembrana, West Bali area, some 80 kilometers away from the capital Denpasar.

Jembrana police chief Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman said no ferry docked or left the port for Ketapang, in the East Java coastal town of Banyuwangi, over the course of the demonstration.

"The activities were stopped only out of respect for the people. The ferries approaching Gilimanuk from Ketapang stopped and waited until the protest was over," he said.

The protest -- demanding that President B.J. Habibie dismiss Saefuddin for the remark -- concluded peacefully after some representatives delivered their petition to Jembrana Regent Ida Bagus Indugosa.

In Jakarta, hundreds of Moslems demonstrated to counter the Hindus' demands that Saefuddin be dismissed, according to AFP.

During the protest by some 500 Moslems from different youth groups at the Al-Azhar Grand Mosque following Friday prayers, the demonstrators waved banners insisting that Indonesia's president must be a Moslem.

The banners said, among other things, "Saefuddin, we support you", and "Megawati (presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri), what is your religion?"

The Indonesian constitution has no stipulation that the president must be a Moslem.

The protests in Bali against Saefuddin followed a statement he made earlier this month in which he implied that a Hindu could never become a president of Indonesia.

Saefuddin, commenting on his chances of beating popular politician Megawati in the race for the presidency next year, had said he was confident of winning because Megawati was a Hindu.

"She (Megawati) is a Hindu. I am a Moslem. Would the Indonesian people really let their president be a Hindu?" Saefuddin said. He was commenting on news pictures of Megawati participating in a Hindu ceremony.

Many of the Hindus are supporters of Megawati, the daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, who has Balinese ancestry on his mother's side.

"Saefuddin's statement was not addressed to insult Hindus in Bali but specifically aimed at Megawati herself," the protesters, many of whom had their children with them, said in a statement.

"The assumption that Megawati is a Hindu was based on the fact that she participated in prayers at Hindu temples," it said, adding that the matter should end shortly after Saefuddin made his public apology. (swe)