Jan. 27, 2016

The government should adhere to the 1945 Constitution in handling the Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar), an organization allegedly involved in recent missing person cases, and not issue any related regulations based on a fatwa from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), human rights activists have said.

Setara Institute deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos said that since Gafatar had never declared itself to be an organization affiliated with a particular religious group, including Islam, the government could not use MUI edicts to take measures against the organization'€™s freedom of belief and association.

Your comments:

To my mind, the government can still use the MUI edicts as a lower consideration than the laws. Therefore, when the MUI edicts oppose the Indonesian Constitution, the MUI edicts must not be followed by the authorities.

Mr. Potential

So apparently, the reality is more like '€œfatwasila'€.

Randomthought

I agree, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was a puppet for them and opened this path for the MUI to take charge.

An edict should have no bearing on law, but unfortunately with these edicts they know they get a bunch of radicals attacking and those Muslims who think the MUI means something.

The MUI is a social organization. It is not the law and should be completely ignored when it tries to enter into it.

It is no better than the likes of the Islamic Defenders Front, just maybe better organized.

Its path is plain: if it isn'€™t Islam, it should be eliminated. Well, Islam in Indonesia would probably be a better Islam if the likes of the MUI were eliminated.

Xsimaging

Well, it'€™s nice to know who is in charge. It'€™s scary, but nice!

Bohongbohong

The government should never listen to Islamic organizations. For years they have been infected by radical teachings and can no longer be trusted to safeguard Indonesia or represent Islam as a fair and balanced majority.

Deddy K.

Explicitly you said that the MUI may have been infected by radicalism. What is the proof? As I know, the MUI is one of the biggest Islamic organizations that fights terrorism and radical Islam.

Maybe it is still a conservative Islam, but firmly it objects to terrorism and a radical approach as a way of Islam.

Pot

'€œThe 1945 Constitution protected the rights of the Indonesian people to freedom of belief and of association as long as their beliefs did not involve violence and did not tend to make arbitrary interpretations over other religious teachings.'€

And since when has the government followed the Constitution or Pancasila?

To the government, the minorities are nothing but a '€œthorn in the side'€.

The masses are where the votes are, so in essence the minorities have no protection or rights. Discrimination rules in the country and has done so since its independence.

Extremism and radicalism will never be stopped, in fear of retaliation, since these radicals (terrorists) are supported by a government that only '€œclaims'€ tolerance and diversity.

Willo1246

At least under Pak Harto if people didn'€™t play by the rules they had to either leave or be taken out.

I guess soon those times will be regarded as the good old days.

BH

Popular

The fragile promise of pluralism, religious freedom in Southeast Asia

Coffee, gold push up inflation to 1.95 percent in April

Power begins to return after outage in Indonesia's Bali island