The awards were given by Elga Sarapung, JAII coordinator; Rev. Herman Saud, the event'€™s head of committee; and Myriam Nainggolan, one of the award'€™s jury members.

'€œThese three leaders are considered to have successfully maintained pluralism in their regions. For example, Sultan rejected the public demand to create a regulation that would prohibit Ahmadis and Shiites from praying,'€ Aan Ansori, one of the jury members, said.

Aan added that Rudi Arifin had granted all religions equal budgets and licenses to build their house of worship, while Abdul Kholik Haris named his Wonosobo region a '€˜human rights city'€™.

Another jury member, Farha Ciciek, said she hoped the achievements of the local leaders would be examples for their colleagues to preserve tolerance and harmony in their regions.

During their speeches, Sultan, Rudi and Haris agreed that diversity was a blessing and should be upheld. 

Sultan added that local leaders should raise public awareness about maintaining tolerance, while Rudi said he had never seen any religious conflict in his region during his nine-year administration. (gda/dic)

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