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