Religious leaders agree to maintain security

Religious leaders agree to maintain security

SURABAYA (JP): East Java religious leaders agreed on Wednesday
to maintain security and order and promised to properly control
their followers to anticipate possible chaos, following the
escalating tension in the most densely populated province in the
country.

The agreement was made in a meeting sponsored by East Java
Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutanto at the Hyatt Regency Surabaya
Hotel.

Sutanto told reporters after the meeting that there were two
significant topics discussed by the police and the religious
leaders: Sampit refugees and the impact of the political climate
emanating from Jakarta.

Attending the meeting were Ali Maschan Moesa, chairman of East
Java chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), deputy chief of East Java
chapter of Muhammadiyah Sulaiman, Johanes Hadi Wikarta of the
Indonesian Church Council (KWI), Ref. Edy Pattinasarany of Inter-
Church Council (Bamag) and Insp. Gen. Sutanto.

"In the short term, NU's Banser and Muhammadiyah's task force
Kokam, along with other task forces, will conduct a joint patrol
in all areas," Sutanto said. "With the joint patrol operating,
people should remain calm and should not easily be provoked."

East Java has become one of the nation's trouble spots, in
line with the escalation of political tensions in the country,
following efforts to topple President Abdurrahman Wahid, who was
a previous chairman of NU for many years, prior to becoming
President.

Most of the towns in the province are strongholds of the
President. His supporters have demonstrated their die-hard
loyalty to him by attacking the offices of Golkar Party branches
in Surabaya and some other towns.

The attackers believed that Golkar, chaired by Akbar Tandjung,
had joined hands with supporters of Amien Rais, speaker of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), to unseat Abdurrahman.

Terrorist acts and violence have reportedly also been carried
out by Abdurrahman's supporters against leaders of Muhammadiyah,
the second largest Muslim organization, once chaired by Amien
Rais.

Sutanto called on the religious leaders to control their
followers properly. "There is no need to send people to Jakarta.
That will only damage the political climate and threaten national
security," he said, referring to NU and Banser leaders'
statements on their readiness to send thousands of supporters to
Jakarta to defend the President from his opponents' attacks.

Sutanto said that public places, including the port of
Ketapang at Banyuwangi, would become the focus of attention for
the police.

Ketapang, the gateway to Gilimanuk, Bali, has been blocked
twice by Abdurrahman's supporters. The blockades disturbed
transportation as the ferry crossings to and from Bali had to be
canceled.

Ali Maschan told reporters after the meeting that what
happened at the grassroots level was just the spillover from the
"games" played by members of the political elite (in Jakarta).

"Frankly speaking, I cannot guarantee anything. Things depend
on Jakarta. If only the Jakarta leaders could compromise, the
people here would be quiet," he said.

He added that he could not stop NU members from going to
Jakarta. "They have the right to go anywhere."

Meanwhile, Sulaiman of Muhammadiyah said he regretted the
police's weakness in upholding the law. "We reported the terror
against Muhammadiyah leaders here. But they (the police) did
nothing to respond to our report. This is very dangerous,"
Sulaiman said.

He said that "Muhammadiyah cleansing" could take place in East
Java if the law were not enforced properly. (nur/sur)