Religious leaders urged to maintain peace

Religious leaders urged to maintain peace

Kurniawan
The jakarta Post
Jakarta

The country's top religious leaders on Friday called on all
religious and community leaders not to create the impression that
an interreligious conflict had taken place in the aftermath of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP) made
the call amid growing anti-U.S. sentiment following the country's
threat to attack Afghanistan in pursuit of Saudi dissident Osama
bin Laden.

"We request all religious leaders and public figures not to
use the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy to create a situation
where it appears that there is confrontation between particular
religions," the group said in a statement signed by 24 leaders of
all main faiths.

Among them were chairman of the country's largest Islamic
organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi, Jakarta Bishop
Julius Kardinal Darmaatmaja, Buddhist leader Sukhemothera, AA
Yewangoe from the Indonesian Church Union and ICRP president
Djohan Effendi.

"Our plea to other religious leaders is to handle correctly
the radical elements within their own religious movements ...
Confrontation, whether based on religion or otherwise, will only
provoke further disputes and violence," Muslim scholar Ulil
Abshar-Abdalla cautioned reading the statement in a press
briefing.

The group also called on religious leaders to use effective
measures in controlling hard-line elements within each religion
in order to facilitate dialog.

"Only through dialog peace could be achieved," Ulil said.

The briefing, held at NU's head office in Jakarta, was
attended by dozens of domestic and foreign reporters.

The leaders condemned the terrorist attacks that claimed more
than 6,000 lives, but urged the U.S. not to attack Afghanistan
and not to target bin Laden without clear evidence.

"Because ICRP is only an organization," Djohan said, "we can
only call on the U.S. not to launch a retaliatory attack on
Afghanistan."

Yewangoe agreed, saying "it appears to be our moral
responsibility in preventing a vicious cycle of terrorism."

The religious leaders shared the opinion that the terrorist
attacks on New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon
were an attack against humanity and not against a certain
religion. "Therefore there is no need to inflame religious
sentiment," they said.

ICRP is an interreligious organization, the local chapter of
the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), which was set
up in July 2000 to develop an understanding of pluralism within
Indonesian society and respect for human dignity.

Earlier this week, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI)
condemned the terrorist attacks on the U.S. and called for
Muslims all over the world to unite for a jihad should America
proceed with its plan to attack Afghanistan for harboring bin
Laden.

The council clarified a day later that its call for jihad did
not mean that it was urging Muslims to wage a physical war
against the U.S.