Hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims continued to flock to Jombang, East Java, on Monday to visit and pray at the burial site of the late former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.
In another development, the Surabaya administration said it would name a street in the city after Gus Dur in recognition of his outstanding role in promoting pluralism and multiculturalism in Indonesia.
Surabaya Deputy Mayor Arief Affandi said his administration wanted to honor the memory of the country’s fourth president.
He added that various suggestions had come from government officials and the public for a street to be named after Gus Dur.
“Gus Dur deserves national hero status. He also deserves a street in Surabaya, as the city was the basis and the birthplace of Nadhlatul Ulama [NU],” Arief said Monday.
Gus Dur led NU, the country’s largest Muslim organization founded by his grandfather Hasyim Asy’ari in 1926, for three consecutive five-year terms from 1984.
To honor his statehood, the Confucian community has proposed that Gus Dur not only be awarded the status of national hero, but also be nominated for a Nobel Peace prize.
Indonesian Confucianism Council chairman Gator Seger Santoso, from Boen Bio Temple, said that Gus Dur deserved a Nobel Peace prize for his pivotal role in defending minority groups.
The fourth president was the most courageous leader in Indonesia because he put pressure on Islamic radical groups to respect religious minorities, he said.
The deputy Surabaya mayor also supported the idea that Gus Dur be named a Nobel Peace laureate.
“Gus Dur even tried to build diplomatic relations with Israel even though Indonesia has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
“At home, Gus Dur was also courageous as he helped minorities by ensuring they gained justice from the state,” Arief Affandi argued.
Gus Dur died Wednesday at the age of 69 in Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and was buried a day later in his birthplace of Jombang in a state ceremony led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Five days after his death, hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims were still crowding Gus Dur’s burial site at the Tebuireng Islamic boarding school compound on Monday.
School senior executive Lukman Hakim said condolences from many communities, including Confucianist and Christian groups, continued to flow in for Gus Dur.
“They said Gus Dur’s death was an extreme loss and that he was a true fighter for minority groups in Indonesia,” he said.
The sympathizers, Lukman added, would also attend a traditional religious ceremony to mark the seventh day of Gus Dur’s death in Jombang on Tuesday night.
He said some 10,000 people were expected to attend the ceremony along with a number of national
figures such as Mustofa Bisri, Emha Ainun Najib, East Java Governor Soekarwo and his deputy Saefullah Yusuf.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Muslim students in East Java marched on the streets of Surabaya, collecting signatures of people in support of Gus Dur being made a national heroes.
They said Gus Dur had developed pluralism and democracy, while rejecting Islamic radicalism.
