Youth body plans to sever ties with Nahdlatul Ulama
Youth body plans to sever ties with Nahdlatul Ulama
JAKARTA (JP): Nahdlatul Ulama, already plagued with
dissension, may lose the support of a Moslem youth organization,
which is considering breaking away.
Ansor secretary-general, Saifullah Ma'shum, told the Antara
news agency yesterday that the plan would be discussed in Ansor's
congress, which is scheduled for September in Palembang, South
Sumatra.
He said the idea came from the organization's activists. "The
leaders of this organization, however, have not thought about it
at all."
On a separate occasion, Ansor chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf
said that the plan was too hasty. He said that the proposal may
have been made by activists, to serve their personal interests.
"Frankly, we need to study the idea further and find out
what's behind it. We should remain watchful," Slamet said.
Slamet is a legislator representing the ruling Golkar party
and was once an activist of the Moslem-oriented United
Development Party. He has high profile activities both in Golkar
and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Saifullah declined to name specific reasons why Ansor wants to
break away from the NU, which claims to have about 30 million
members. But he expressed concern that some leading members of NU
are still embroiled in internal conflicts.
These ongoing conflicts continue to be detrimental to the
millions of NU followers, mostly in rural areas, he said.
Because of the rift involving NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid
and his arch rival Abu Hasan, the issue of empowerment of members
has been neglected, Saifullah said.
This alienates NU from contemporary development in society, he
said. "Only by seriously paying attention to the interests of its
followers can NU really stay away from politics, as it pledges
to," he said.
"This is why Ansor wants to be independent. It's the interests
of members which is important," Saifullah said.
Ansor was established in 1934 in Surabaya, East Java. Its
members are people aged between 15 and 45 years. (swe)