Racial and religious sentiments
Racial and religious sentiments
From Neraca
The economic crisis raging in the past seven months has
brought sufferings to the public at large. Those worst hit by the
crisis are people in the lowest social layer. The ensuing price
increases and scarcity of daily necessities have plunged them
into a situation where no way out seems to be in sight.
More and more social groups are now demanding that the
government immediately lower the prices and ensure the
availability of daily necessities. This is a valid demand
inasmuch as it is the main job and chief responsibility of the
government to bring prosperity to its people. In addition, it
must also provide the public with a feeling of security.
In the meantime, amidst efforts that the public has been
making to find a way out of their difficulty in life we have seen
the emergence of a tendency to make certain social groups
scapegoats on the basis of race and religion. They have been
accused of being the culprits for all the ongoing crisis.
If this tendency is allowed to go on unchecked, not only will
the crisis remain unsolved but the pillars of our national life
will be at stake. Should this become a reality, everything that
the Republic of Indonesia has achieved since 1945 will disappear
into thin air.
To this end, the International Forum on Indonesian Development
(INFID), as a working network of over 100 non-governmental
organizations, feels the need to make the following appeal.
First, the community should see to it that their struggle to
overcome the crisis and their fight to bring about
social, political and economic reforms should always be carried
out peacefully. They should guard against falling into sentiments
against certain races and religions.
Second, the government is called upon to earnestly perform its
constitutional tasks and responsibility, particularly with
respect to taking the necessary measures to ensure that the
public can buy their daily necessities at affordable prices.
Third, it is requested that the government should refrain from
resorting to repressive and intimidating methods in dealing with
the public's peaceful expression of their political aspirations.
This is intended to prevent the emergence of new problems and
human right violations. The government must respect the
principles of a law-based state.
Finally, we trust that only a clean government enjoying the
trust of its people will be able to gain support for the
settlement of this crisis.
ZUMROTIN K. SUSILO,
ASMARA NABABAN
INFID, Jakarta