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Farewell cleric of pluralism
JP/J
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JP/J. Adiguna
Festive preparations to part with 2009 quickly turned into mourning on Wednesday as the nation bid farewell to its cleric of pluralism, Indonesia’s fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid.
The measure of a man affectionately known as Gus Dur came not from the stream of somber faced dignitaries which arrived at the Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital in Central Jakarta or legions of mourners at his residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta. But from the impromptu swell of prayer congregations, tahlil, held across the country.
Nationwide, students and elders held prayers almost as soon as they heard of the demise of the man who symbolized Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance as well as being an icon for political reform.
In Surabaya, East Java, an emotional gathering from all walks of life lit candles in front of the Negara Grahadi building. Antara reported that 100 children walked with candles in a spontaneous show of grief.
The eulogies and prayers did not just come from Muslims.
Jakarta Archbishop Julius Darmaatmadja SJ said Gus Dur had left an indelible mark on people of all faiths.
“He was a Muslim, but he became a blessing to all faiths,” he said here Wednesday night.
Amidst the takbir chants the hospital procession in Jakarta was frenetic as the hundreds who gathered pressed towards Gus Dur’s body as it was being led out of room 116 of the Cardiac Wing in a coffin draped in green cloth.
His widow, Shinta Nuriyah, followed closely behind in a wheel chair.
Gus Dur’s daughter, Yenny Wahid, was so stricken with grief that she too had to be placed in a wheel chair.
But such was the commotion that she quickly returned to the room in tears under a thin black head scarf.
Among the crowd at the hospital were Constitutional Court chairman Mahfud MD — who served as minister of Defense in Gus Dur’s Cabinet — and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati who helped a distraught Yenny to her car.
For President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Gus Dur’s demise was an ironic goodbye as the latter exhaled his last breath not long after the incumbent visited the hospital. Yudhoyono received his first Cabinet posting in 1999 as Gus Dur’s minister of Mines and Energy.
“I call on the Indonesian people to fly their flags at half mast for seven days,” the President said while confirming that he will lead the state funeral at Gus Dur’s hometown of Jombang, East Java, this (Thursday) afternoon.
Yudhoyono will become the first president to oversee the burial of two former presidents after the death of Soeharto last year.
At Gus Dur’s residence in Ciganjur, friends and former political foes alike gathered in another testament of the respect the deceased generated.
Former presidents BJ Habibie and Megawati Soekarnoputri, and People’s Consultative Assembly speaker Taufik Kiemas were among those present.
Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the Palace is expecting confirmation from a number of heads of state to attend the funeral, including Singapore, Malaysia and Timor Leste.
According to Dr Aris Wibudi of the presidential medical team, Gus Dur’s condition had been poor but stable since Saturday.
On Wednesday morning, however, it took a turn for the worse with complications in his respiratory system, kidneys and circulation.
At 6:15 p.m. he was declared in a critical condition, and he finally died half an hour later. He was 69.
Current Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi who last met Gus Dur a fortnight ago said his predecessor’s final words at the time were to take care of the organization which Gus Dur had led for a decade and a half.
Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu summoned two of Gus Dur’s most lasting traits as “a man who united us all”.
“And of course, we will never forget his incredible sense of humor”.
