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)