'State protects religious communities'

'State protects religious communities'

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto restated yesterday the
state's responsibility to protect all religious communities and
to support their continued development.

A mutually supportive relationship should exist between
religious communities and the state, said Soeharto in his opening
address at the congress of Syarikat Islam, one of the oldest
Moslem organizations.

"Any member of any religious community is a citizen whose
safety has to be protected, whose welfare has to be improved, and
whose ability has to be enhanced," he told senior ulemas of the
group.

As citizens, members of religious groups are entitled to state
facilities and obliged to support national development planning.

"The state will protect and support efforts of religious
communities to advance themselves," Soeharto promised.

Established in 1911, Syarikat Islam was an offshoot of Sarekat
Dagang Islam of Surakarta in Central Java, which was formed to
campaign against the domination of ethnic Chinese in trade and
the local nobility then.

Also known as Sarekat Islam, the organization became one of
the prime-movers in forming the modernist Moslem movement, and
gained substantial political clout during the independence years.

Soeharto called on all religious groups to help one another in
achieving better standard of life, spiritually and materially.

"The more prosperous and devout people are, the better their
conduct becomes, and the stronger their feeling of brotherhood
becomes...not only toward those of the same faith, but to all
mankind," Soeharto said.

"We are a diverse nation. We follow different faiths. This
diversity should not hinder our co-existence. Instead, we should
look at difference as a reflection of God's greatness," he said.

The nation should encourage each group to practice their faith
well. "The greatness of the faiths should be reflected in their
people's conduct," he said.

Soeharto's statement came as the small East Java town of
Situbondo recovered from the shock which followed attacks on its
churches. The riots claimed five lives and damaged a score of
buildings.

The military has said that the riots were planned and the
violence provoked.

Religious leaders, however, have said that the riots were not
caused by religious enmity, but by misunderstanding. Abdurrahman
Wahid, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Moslem organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), had begged for forgiveness for any damage
caused by NU members.

Separately yesterday, Sahal Mahfudz, the deputy chairman of NU
law-making body Syuriyah, repeated his conviction that the riots
were not prompted by religious tension but had more to do with
social and cultural factors.

"Most of the Situbondo people, who are of Maduran ethnicity,
are easily provoked and temperamental," he said on Sunday. "It's
really regrettable, but...it's really because they were
emotional...and did not understand the law."

The violence in Situbondo was sparked by Moslems outraged at
what they considered a too lenient demand for punishment against
Saleh, a local Moslem.

Saleh was on trial for alleged blasphemy against Islam and for
tarnishing the name of the late K.H. As'ad Syamsul Arifin, a
respected ulema of NU.

The mob attacked churches when they heard shouts claiming the
defendant was hiding in a church. A total of 53 people were
reportedly taken into custody at local police stations.

Some military officials claim to have discovered the existence
of "commanders of sections" in each of the areas hit by the
riots. Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo, the chief of Brawijaya regional
military command, said he believed the violence was a purely
criminal act rather than an act born out of religious hatred.

Muladi of the National Commission on Human Rights told The
Jakarta Post separately that cases of religious tension, such as
the one in Situbondo, could not be handled with a "security
approach" only.

Instead, the government needs to include social scientists in
investigations, to examine the situation and suggest ways to
handle it.

"Social scientists are needed to study why the social conflict
occurred," he said on Thursday. "It's like a fire, it's easy to
extinguish it, it's more difficult to prevent it from happening
again." (swe/har)