TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Gus Dur remembered as the father of tolerance
Friends and foes, Muslims and non-Muslims, old and young as well as majority and minority groups across the country all agreed that Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid has left an invaluable legacy of moderation to the people of Indonesia, and to the whole world
Change Size
F
riends and foes, Muslims and non-Muslims, old and young as well as majority and minority groups across the country all agreed that Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid has left an invaluable legacy of moderation to the people of Indonesia, and to the whole world.
As soon as he passed away at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital in Jakarta on Wednesday, many people from various walks of life, including officials in the regencies, agreed that the former president had, at times almost single-handedly, carried forward Indonesia’s image as a pluralist and democratic country in the eyes of the international community, despite a world marked by conflict and extremism.
“We just lost a great statesman who fought to keep the country pluralist, while fighting fundamentalism. He was a true democrat, respecting even his political foes,” noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said.
Todung, who together with Gus Dur led the battle against the New Order authoritarian regime under president Soeharto, said the legacy of the former Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman would never fade from the nation’s collective memory.
A respected young politician from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, said that Indonesia had lost one of its greatest leaders who would sadly be irreplaceable for a long time to come.
“Gus Dur was an excellent example of a beautiful and peaceful marriage between Islam, Indonesia and modernity. He will always be remembered as an open-minded leader, with a free way of thinking, capable of leading us through any obstacles,” he said.
While the NU is a conservative religious organization, Gus Dur has consistently maintained that faith is a personal matter, rejecting calls for Islam to have an institutionalized role in the state.
He said such calls could spell the end of Indonesia, already threatened by ethnic separatism, a minority of extremists and some inter-religious tension.
His position brought him criticism from some Islamic circles but earned him the respect of many non-Muslims, as well as Muslims, throughout Indonesia, including the vast democracy’s Christian and ethnic Chinese minorities.
Indonesian Chinese descendant and respected lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta agreed that it was Gus Dur who had stood in the front line to defend the rights of the country’s minority groups.
“He was the one who allowed the Chinese community here to celebrate Imlek (Chinese New Year).”
Human right activist and respected scholar, HS Dilon, also praised Gus Dur for defending minorities.
“He was a true pluralist and gave meaning to our nation’s foundation, Bhineka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity). He was unflinching in supporting the rights of minorities,” he said.
