Relevance of intellectual organizations questioned

JAKARTA (JP): A number of senior statesmen yesterday questioned the relevance of the presence of religious-based intellectual organizations, saying that it could backfire on the national unity which has been painfully built over the decades.

Roeslan Abdulgani, Sabam Sirait, Marzuki Darusman and Nico Daryanto were all invited to the analytical meeting in Bandung organized by the Association of Catholic Intellectuals (ISKA) yesterday to give their views on the presence of religious-based intellectual groupings.

Although their groups do not violate the Constitution, their presence and objective should be reviewed in the context of the life of this nation, the speakers conclude, as reported by the Antara news agency.

The presence of intellectual organizations whose membership depends on faith has been questioned only recently with the increasing prominence of the Association of Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) under the chairmanship of B.J. Habibie, who is also the state minister of research and technology.

ICMI is relatively new compared to ISKA and PIKI, the association of Christian intellectuals. Hindu intellectuals have since established FCHI while Buddhist intellectuals last week announced the formation of their organization, KCBI.

Roeslan told the meeting in Bandung yesterday that the growth of these organizations had confused him and he feared that they could contribute to the weakening of the unity and cohesion of this nation.

Various problems facing the nation in recent years have caused people to turn inward into their background, roots or faiths, said the former chairman of BP-7, an agency that advises President Soeharto on ideological matters.

To illustrate his point, he cited the problems of wealth disparity, rampant corruption, the low wages paid to workers and collusion between businessmen and government officials.

The intellectual community, from whatever faith, should take on the role of neutralizing these problems.

Responsibility

They should assume responsibility in accordance with their skill and profession, and use their logic without ignoring their spiritual beliefs, for the benefit of the nation, he said.

Roeslan said the intellectuals have a duty to society in accordance with their profession and should leave the questions of faith to the religious experts.

Nico, a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), also agreed on the need to review the presence of ICMI and the other religious-based intellectual organizations.

"We shouldn't allow these organizations to serve the political interests of individuals or their groups," said the former PDI secretary general.

Sabam Sirait, a PDI legislator, said however that the concerns about the presence of these groups may have been exaggerated. (emb)