UGM Mosque Channel Responds to JK's Sermon Deemed to Blaspheme Religion

The YouTube channel of the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) campus mosque has weighed in on former Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s (JK) lecture, which has been accused of insulting Christian teachings. JK’s lecture, titled ‘Indonesia’s Diplomatic Strategy in Mitigating Potential Multipolar Regional War Escalation’, took place at the UGM campus mosque on 5 March 2026. JK appeared as one of the speakers at the ‘Ramadan Public Lecture’. The approximately 43-minute lecture was broadcast via the official YouTube channel of the UGM campus mosque. In response to the widespread discussion, the channel’s admin posted a pinned comment starting from Monday (12 April). ‘Dear congregation, we kindly request that you watch the video in full, not just the circulating snippets. Often, incomplete clips can lead to misunderstandings because the context of the discussion is not properly conveyed,’ the admin wrote in the comment section. CNNIndonesia.com obtained permission from the Chairman of the UGM Mosque Takmir, Muhammad Yusuf, to quote the comment. ‘Let us be fair in assessing something, by viewing it comprehensively before drawing conclusions or spreading it further. If further clarification is needed, please contact the relevant party directly. Thank you for your attention and wisdom,’ it concluded. On Sunday night (12 April), JK, through his spokesperson Husain Abdullah, denied insulting Christian teachings as per the police report filed by the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (DPP GAMKI) and several other organisations. DPP GAMKI, along with several Christian institutions and other community organisations, deemed JK’s statements in the UGM lecture, which touched on the Poso and Ambon conflicts, to be controversial. Husain clarified the viral video post circulating on social media, which he said lacked context. The video in question contained JK’s statement referring to both sides in the Poso and Ambon conflicts using the term ‘die as martyrs’. ‘Upon investigation, the accusation stems from context cutting. We firmly deny that accusation,’ Husain stated when confirmed via written message on Sunday night (12 April). Husain explained JK’s statement delivered during his speech at the UGM campus mosque in Yogyakarta on Thursday (5 March), emphasising that no religion in the world teaches its followers to kill each other. Husain then described how JK was explaining his contributions to peace-making in the Poso and Ambon conflicts during the turn of the 1990s to 2000s. ‘JK described his efforts to reconcile the Poso and Ambon conflicts to the UGM academic community. First, JK corrected the beliefs of the two conflicting groups, Islam and Christianity, that they had acted wrongly by using religious jargon as justification, leading to thousands of lives lost on both sides, and the conflict being hard to stop,’ he explained. During the conflict, Husain clarified, both groups called for ‘holy war’ and claimed that killing the opposing side or dying in battle would lead to paradise. He stressed that this was historical fact. ‘It was this misguided view of both sides that Mr JK first corrected, stating that no religion permits killing each other. This was conveyed to the war commanders at the time,’ he said. Husain stated that both conflicting parties had crossed the bounds of humanity, killing children, women, and the elderly. Such actions clearly violated values of love and compassion. Husain continued that the Poso and Ambon conflicts, which occurred 27 years ago, were successfully reconciled by JK as mediator through the Malino I Negotiations for Poso in 2001 and Malino II Negotiations for the Ambon Conflict in 2002. At that time, JK, serving as Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare (Menko Kesra), involved Islamic and Christian religious figures, field commanders from both conflicting sides, community leaders from both parties, and the government in mediation. ‘That is why Mr JK had to correct their misguided understanding. This historical fact can be confirmed with the surviving figures from the peace negotiations for both Poso and Ambon,’ he said. Meanwhile, GAMKI, along with the Expert Council of the Indonesian Christian Community Assembly (MUKI), Indonesian Pastors Association (API), Pluralism Community Struggle Movement, Central Executive Board of Si Pitung, and Central Executive Board of Horas Bangso Batak, reported JK to the police over his statements regarding the Poso and Ambon conflicts. In their statement, DPP GAMKI quoted JK’s controversial statement. The statement touched on the conflicts in Poso and Ambon in the early 2000s. They took issue with JK’s use of the phrase ‘martyr’ in relation to the conflicts involving religion, including in Poso and Ambon. DPP GAMKI General Chairman Sahat Sinurat stated they also strongly condemned JK’s statement, which they deemed hurtful to Christians and causing unrest in society. Sahat stated that Christianity never teaches killing people of different faiths to enter paradise. Instead, he added, Christianity teaches loving fellow humans, even enemies.