Suing Gus Dur a big mistake

Suing Gus Dur a big mistake

From Merdeka

About in the middle of the fasting month Ramadhan, Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, was reported to be threatened with defamation due to comments he made during a discussion. Gus Dur, however, was serious concerning this matter and demanded that the case be settled in court.

It was a big mistake to hastily label Gus Dur as a slanderer and to threaten to take him to court.

The first thing to realize is that Gus Dur is a religious leader and heads the big Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which maintains traditional values. He often presents his strong opinions in public, which are beyond these traditional norms. He is able to give excellent arguments in public debates, in lectures and in writings. As an intellectual, he is committed to establishing an open society, although not without risk.

Gus Dur has not done anything taboo. He is a shepherd of the nahdliyin (members of NU) and is always ready to defend the truth, even if it means going to court.

Situbondo and Tasikmalaya are known to be NU bases, so it is but fair for Gus Dur to search for the "intellectual" masterminds of the recent riots that happened in those towns. Also, Gus Dur has been wise enough to ask for an apology if there were any NU members being involved in the riots. To apologize is very characteristic of NU.

But further investigation has indicated that the riots were engineered not by an NU member, so the real culprit must be found. NU knows no violence in settling problems. NU has always been gentleman-like in its conduct.

Some are questioning Gus Dur's quality as an ulema. This is insulting. An ulema is not appointed by a decree. He leads ulema groups and lives among them.

IRFAN HASSAN BADJEBER

Jakarta