Thousands to gather for jihad in support of Akbar
The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Security forces will be on alert as at least 40,000 Golkar supporters from Aceh converge on the capital to put pressure on the Attorney General's Office to let the party chairman Akbar Tandjung leave the country for a haj pilgrimage in Mecca.
The Acehnese, coming from various regencies in the restive province, will express their moral support for Akbar, who the Attorney General's Office has named a suspect in an alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) when he was the minister/state secretary in 1999.
"We from Serambi Mekah won't let certain people prevent the good intention of Akbar Tandjung to perform a haj pilgrimage. We are ready to call a jihad for Akbar," chairman of Golkar's Aceh provincial chapter Muntasi Hamid told Antara at the party's headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta on Sunday.
Aceh is also known as Serambi Mekah (Terrace of Mecca) given the fact that the territory became the first base of Islam in Indonesia.
Akbar, also the House of Representatives speaker, is facing another daunting test on Monday when the House will vote whether to establish a special committee to investigate his involvement in the scam.
The Attorney General's Office has so far not slapped a travel ban on Akbar, but has required him to seek its approval before leaving the country.
Akbar, who said the pilgrimage had long been planned, is scheduled to depart on Feb. 14, along with the last group of some 183,000 Indonesian pilgrims whose dispatch began on Sunday.
Muntasir said some 25,000 Acehnese had arrived in Jakarta, while the rest were on their way to the capital. Most of them come from East Aceh.
"We don't know exactly who has registered with us for this trip, perhaps 50,000 or even 70,000. There are at least 40,000 people already on our list," Muntasir said.
He said the party supporters left their homes for Jakarta voluntarily. Their trip was funded by Golkar legislators from Aceh and some businessmen, according to Muntasir.
"We think those who bar someone from performing the haj must be questioned whether they uphold the state ideology of Pancasila or follow communism," he asserted.
Muntasir guaranteed that the Acehnese would not take to the streets to vent their anger in an anarchic way.
"We have asked the Jakarta Police to help us keep our activities run in an orderly manner," he said.
Separately, in a party function in Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan, Akbar said he was ready to undergo questioning before leaving for Mecca.
"My lawyers have contacted the state prosecutors to inform them of my planned trip," he said, adding that he had never intended to escape from justice or the country.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, advised Akbar to cancel his trip if the state prosecutors refuse to permit him to go.