No Politics In Push to Protect the Ahmadiyah: Churches

NEWS

No Politics In Push to Protect the Ahmadiyah: Churches

Dessy Sagita | March 09, 2011

Christian leaders recently lambasted by Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam for “politicizing” violence against the Ahmadiyah have defended their position as proponents of diversity.

Benny Susetyo, from the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) said at a press conference on Tuesday that he had done nothing wrong in calling for all religious groups to be protected against violence.

“I’ve been victimized here, I haven’t once said anything about the theology of Ahmadiyah or Islam,” he said. “I merely stated that the government should protect everyone, including minority groups, regardless of their beliefs.”

Dipo warned on Sunday against “politicizing” the violence targeted at the minority Islamic sect because of the potential to “create communal conflicts.”

He also said religious leaders needed to help maintain peace and tolerance in society, and accused Benny, whom he labeled an Ahmadiyah supporter, of interfering in Islamic affairs.

Gomar Gultom, secretary general of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), also said the country’s leading religious scholars had never discussed their stance toward the Ahmadiyah, let alone issued a public statement on the matter.

“We just want to remind [the public] that the country is a constitutional republic and should not bow down to any pressure from majority groups or religions,” Gomar said.

Salahuddin Wahid from Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Islamic organization, said that from an Islamic perspective, Ahmadiyah’s beliefs were wrong.

However, he said disbanding the sect simply because of public pressure would only set an unhealthy precedent for the country’s developing democracy.

“If any organization insists the Ahmadiyah are deviant, it should take the problem to the courts to decide whether the sect really is blaspheming against Islam,” Salahuddin said.

Franz Magnis Suseno, a Catholic priest and theologian, said he had advised Dipo to take a break to prevent him making controversial statements that could create a rift in Indonesian society.

“I understand that Dipo feels it’s important to defend President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but it doesn’t have to be said in such a counter-productive way,” he said.

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Priests rebuff claim they politicized attacks on minorities

NATIONAL Wed, 03/09/2011 11:13 PM

Priests rebuff claim they politicized attacks on minorities

Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several interfaith leaders who criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration have rebuffed Cabinet secretary Dipo Alam’s accusation that they politicized recent incidents of religious intolerance.

Dipo accused the religious leaders of politicizing incidents of religious persecution, including recent attacks on the Ahmadiyah sect, saying their remarks had inflamed religious intolerance.

He labeled them “black crows” because they were religious leaders who had taken political stances in criticizing Yudhoyono’s leadership.

Some of the interfaith leaders had recently made separate comments about the attacks on Ahmadiyah.

Earlier in January, nine prominent interfaith leaders on several occasions voiced a statement accusing the government of lying to the public about 18 different issues. The lies included a failure to uphold justice in human rights violation cases, protect migrant workers and protect the environment.

One of their accusations was that the government had manipulated statistics on poverty. They claimed the government misled the nation by making false claims that it had achieved success in reducing poverty. The Yudhoyono administration defended its statistics, saying that they had quoted legitimate data from the National Statistics Agency.

Four leaders from the Indonesian Bishops’ Council (KWI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) gathered at the Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity on Tuesday to respond to Dipo’s statement.

Prominent NU leader Salahuddin Wahid said the group consisted of interfaith leaders who merely wished to point out what was good and bad according to their religions.

“This is not political. Our capacity as religious leaders is sufficient to criticize the government that had failed to ensure religious tolerance in the country,” he told a press conference.

KWI executive secretary Benny Susetyo, a Catholic priest, said he regretted Dipo’s statement. “It’s ironic that such a public official is actually triggering a conflict,” Benny said, referring to Dipo.

Dipo reportedly said that Benny’s comments about the Ahmadiyah issues were inappropriate because he should not have commented about a religion other than his own.

Benny denied the allegation, saying he had not been solely addressing the Ahmadiyah case.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic professor said the government must protect its citizens and all groups, including Ahmadiyah, from violence.

PGI secretary-general Gomar Gultom defended Benny, saying that they had never spoken about Ahmadiyah. “Dipo needs to correct his statement because we never discussed the Ahmadiyah incidents,” he said.

Maarif Institute executive director Fajar Riza Ul Haq said Ahmadiyah was not the entire issue. “Any violation against a minority must be addressed seriously by the government. This is our criticism of them,” Fajar said.

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