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Monas for people of all religions: Anies
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan invited the Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) to City Hall for the second time on Thursday morning to announce that he would support any religious activities in the capital.
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The dancing fountain at the National Monument (Monas) on Aug. 12. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
J
akarta Governor Anies Baswedan invited the Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) to City Hall for the second time on Thursday morning to announce that he would support any religious activities in the capital. He also told the representatives of various religions that the National Monument (Monas) compound was open for them anytime.
“Each religion has the same opportunity to use the facility [Monas],” Anies said after hosting a coffee morning attended by representatives from the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), the Council of Buddhist Communities (Walubi), the Confucian Supreme Council of Indonesia (Matakin) and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
The use of Monas as a place of religious activities is in the spotlight as numerous Islamic sermons are set to be held there.
Monas technical management unit head Arista Nurbaya said a cultural event would be held on the grounds this Sunday, including a carnival and a performance involving 16,000 dancers in the morning, while an Islamic sermon would be given in the evening.
She added that other Islamic groups had already booked the Monas area for Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.
A previous gubernatorial decree had banned any religious activity on the square until Anies changed the regulations to allow for such events.
