Protests grow over Tarmizi Taher's remark
Protests grow over Tarmizi Taher's remark
JAKARTA (JP): Protests are pouring in over Minister of
Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher's recent statement that rioters
are allowed to be killed.
Said Agil Siraj and Sutrisno Muchdam, executives of the
country's two largest Moslem organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
and Muhammadiyah, said that he should not have made the
statement. The organizations have 30 million and 28 million
followers respectively.
Tarmizi told 500 ulemas in East Java on Tuesday that "the
blood and lives of recent rioters are halal (religiously
permissible)... to be shed." He could not be reached for comment
yesterday because he was abroad, according to his staff.
Said Agil said the statement was not based on any Islamic
references.
"As a national religious leader, Tarmizi should have spoken
using only true Islamic references," he said, adding that Islam
respected the lives, blood and honor of all people.
Said cited a saying of Prophet Muhammad that it was better for
a judge to free a person of all charges than to sentence him
wrongly.
He said the qishash (death penalty) should only apply if a
person committed murder and if "crime had become part of his
personality".
"Those involved in the recent riots are not criminals who
deserve such a penalty. (Government officials) have said that the
rioters were provoked," he said.
Muhammadiyah deputy chairman Sutrisno said Tarmizi should have
avoided using terms which could provoke the public.
The riots should be settled according to law, he said.
But Sutrisno conceded that: "Minister Tarmizi might have only
been warning Moslems that widespread riots should not happen
again."
Students of Yogyakarta's state-run Islamic Institute demanded
yesterday that Tarmizi resign over his statement.
Five students organizations at the institute, including the
Association of Moslem Students and the NU-affiliated student
association PMII, said Tarmizi's statement could encourage
forceful means for settling national problems. (11/23)