T

he mayor of Bogor, West Java, Bima Arya Sugiarto, has been severely criticized by a number of civil society organizations after he made a speech at the opening of an office of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an organization known for its strong opposition to state ideology Pancasila.

Teguh Santoso, the chairman of human rights organization Yayasan Satu Keadilan, called Bima'€™s decision to attend the meeting '€œunfortunate'€ given HTI'€™s strong opposition not only to Pancasila but also to Indonesia'€™s governmental system. '€œHis presence at the meeting could be taken as legitimizing the position of the HTI. It also shows that he doesn'€™t have a clear stance or ideals,'€ Teguh said as quoted by tempo.co.

In a photo that went viral, Bima was seen making a speech at a podium with the HTI flag in the background. On Thursday, a coalition of organizations called the Civil Movement for Pancasila (Grup) also criticized Bima'€™s presence at the meeting, claiming that it showed that he supported the '€œanti-Pancasila'€ organization.

In an official statement to defend his attendance at the meeting, Bima said: '€œA leader should always reach out to any invitation for meetings, and differences in belief, religion and political views should not be reasons for not making friends.'€