Thousands rally for education bill
Thousands rally for education bill
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Tens of thousands of Muslims rallied outside the House of
Representatives complex here to demand the controversial
education bill be passed on Tuesday.
The bill is opposed by non-Islamic and secular nationalist
groups including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim
organization in Indonesia.
However, those against the bill, mostly Christian groups,
refrained from staging a rival rally at the House, apparently to
avoid a clash.
The Muslim crowd chanted religious songs and waved banners in
support of the bill, urging the legislators to pass it
immediately.
"Save the religious community from apostasy," read one banner.
The controversy centers on an article stipulating that all
students, even in religion-based private schools, must receive
religious instruction in their own faith.
Consequently, religious-based schools that have students from
other faiths will in future have to provide religious teachers
for those faiths.
The protesters said the bill was fair, arguing it accommodated
the aspirations of most people in the predominantly Muslim
country.
It was in line with the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees
religious freedom, they added.
Some of the demonstrators claimed those opposing the bill were
missionaries wanting to see Muslims converted away from their
religion as many Muslims go to Christian schools.
The huge protest by various Muslim organizations crippled the
streets leading to and from the House compound on Jl. Gatot
Subroto, Central Jakarta, for hours.
Almost all the streets surrounding the compound -- Jl. Gelora
I in front of the Ministry of Forestry complex, Jl. Gelora and
Jl. Gatot Subroto -- were closed for several hours.
Many motorists were desperately rerouted to alternative roads,
causing severe congestion. The traffic jams got worse as hundreds
of vehicles carrying the protesters were parked in parts of those
street sections.
"Turn back. You cannot pass this way. The street is totally
closed," said a motorist forced to turn back due to the rally.
Muhammad N., an employee from a private firm, said it took him
more than three hours to travel from his home to his office in
Palmerah near the House complex. The trip normally took 30
minutes by private car, he said.
"That's really annoying," he sighed.
Only a few police personnel were seen attempting to control
the traffic chaos.
A number of House members were among those caught in the
traffic, making them late for the plenary session discussing the
bill.
The rally was peaceful, but noisy, with several public figures
among the crowd, including secretary-general of the Indonesian
Council of Ulemas (MUI) Din Syamsuddin, Justice Party (PK)
chairman Hidayat Nurwahid and movie star Neno Warisman.
The protesters, many of them school students, wore class
uniforms or political party T-shirts. Many female demonstrators
wore traditional Islamic head coverings.
They included supporters of PK, MUI, the Hisbullah Front, the
Muslim Student Association (HMI) and the Mosque Youth group.
"What I know is that the education bill will be endorsed
today. But, I don't know anything about it because our teachers
have yet to tell us about it," said Rizky, a student from the
Gema Nurani Islamic junior high school in Bekasi, West Java.
"We staged similar rallies twice last week to support the
bill," said another student from the same school.
Manan, a second grade student from state Islamic high school
Madrasah Aliyah Negeri in Menteng, Central Jakarta, said he took
part in the rally because the bill would improve national
education.
However, Like many other students, he could not explain how it
would promote a better education system.