---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 16 October 1996
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minister of Religious Affairs on Situbondo Affair
Dili, Kompas Online
Full religious experience is these last times very influenced dehumanization and secularization which is ever more spreading amidst the society of religious believers. This is caused by the development of science, technology and the flow of information which knows no boundaries in the world.
The Minister of Religious Affairs (Menag) Tarmizi Taher said this to Kompas in the Presidential group when some development projects were inaugurated in East Timor (Timtim) in Dili, Tuesday (15/10).
"The Situbondo affair proved how religious experience in this world is now very much dominated by science and technology. This attitude makes that men loose their identity as human beings. Dehumanization and secularization is flooding men so that men are acting inhuman."
The Situbondo affair indicates that diversity in religion, ethnicity, race and customs of each region is not yet clearly and well understood. Besides narrowness of national view and influence of secularization, shallowness of religious comprehension is also evident.
In such a situation people can kill each other, slander, be jealous and bigger fights may occur. Not only in different religions but also congregations of one sect. To overcome this dehumanization religious leaders must really be able to give a good example. They have to go back to the original aim, according the Minister.
Komnas HAM asked to investigate
Meanwhile yesterday around 20 activists from various Non Government Organizations who called themselves Forum Ornop (Organisasi Non Pemerintah) for the Situbondo Tragedy asked Komnas HAM (the National Committee for Human Rights) to disclose completely the background and root of the problem which ignited the Situbondo Riots which took five lives.
They also asked Komnas HAM not only to announce what smelled to politics in unraveling this case.
The statement was conveyed by Eggy Sujana (Moselm Society for HAM and Environments - MAHLI) and Agus E Santoso (Information and Education Centre for HAM - PIPHAM) in front of a Komnas HAM member Soegiri at the Seretariat ofKomnas HAM in Jakarta, Tuesday (15/10).
At the same day around 30 persons from the Indonesian Christian Students Movement (GMKI), Indonesian Christian Young Generation Movement (GAMKI), Indonesian Christian Intellectuals Association (PIKI), and the Senate of Christian University Students met the Central Board (PB) of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) at the PB NU Office in Jakarta to convey their appreciation and gratitude for the responsibility shown by PB NU through the statement by the General Chairman of PB NU via the mass media in connection with the Situbondo case. Said statement had aroused their believe that the Situbondo affair was no religious problem. The incident should be a lesson to increase guidance of the people, in particular the relations between the various religions. They stated the wish to hold closer and intenser dialogues among believers to obtain a deeper understanding and know immediately the feelings and problems of the society of the lower strata. So that affairs as in Situbondo can early be avoided.
The PB NU welcomed the wish to held a dialogue, only proposed that such dialogue be held also with other Moslem organizations. Gus Dur asked forgiveness because it could not be denied that many NU members lived in that region. When the case erupted the Moslem religious teachers (kyais and ulamas) were absent as they were attending a religious ceremony (khaul) in Madura. The PB NU has also asked a report from the lowest organization levels from the regions, also possible developments and number of people arrested.
Religious background
Representatives of the Forum Ornop asked Komnas HAM and the government to play a more active role in viewing various riots with religious backgrounds presently and not to look for a "black sheep" as they had the impression that the riots due to insult of religion were never completely settled but solved with a compromise by the government and a number of religious exponents.
Not teching violence
In another part of their statement Eggy Sujana, Agus Santoso, Gustaaf Pupe and Ellyasha KH Darwis agreed, to see that Islam and other religions did not teach violence. The root of the problem that the culture of violence always emerges if it concerns religion has to be found completely.*
Back to articles