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fter a decade of reform Indonesia remains a place lacking in hospitality toward minority groups. It means that as fellow countrymen, minority groups cannot yet feel the comfort of their position and expect proper empathy from the majority.

The feeling of being intimidated and sidelined has become more intense particularly as domestic politics heats up. This is a description of what may be felt by Catholics as one of the minority groups today, notably following the rumor that the wife of vice presidential candidate Boediono, Herawati, is a Catholic.

This rumor, with its religious and inter-group overtones, began to spread during the campaign round of vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla in the Medan haj dormitory, North Sumatra. As he was campaigning, two men were distributing photocopies of a tabloid, Indonesia Monitor, edition 49/I/June 3-9, 2009, with a report entitled "Doesn't the PKS know Boediono's wife is a Catholic?" to hundreds of spectators mostly comprising of women wearing headscarves.

Previously, reproductions of that story carrying an interview with Habib Husein Al Habsy also appeared in Central Java, when Jusuf Kalla attended a dialogue at Fuluhiyah Islamic boarding school, Mranggen, Demak. However, the copies were stuck to the walls of residents' houses instead of being circulated.

In one of his statements Habib Husein regretted that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) had chosen Boediono, meaning that SBY had not taken heed of the aspirations of Islamic political parties and had even discounted them. According to him, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) was aware of this, but it was calculating the seats to be gained and thus ignoring the choice of Boediono, whose faith in Islam was doubted.

As the incident was considered an image spoiler, the national campaign team of SBY-Boediono demanded that Jusuf Kalla (JK) offer an apology. On the other hand, the JK-Wiranto camp described the demand as misdirected and denied circulating the illegal pamphlets.

Apart from the truth of the rumor and the party responsible for it, many circles see the phenomenon of "Catholic" leaflets as a negative election campaign issue devoid of substantive meaning. It's the same as the previous issue of first lady Kristiani wearing no headscarf. Her name, seen as a Christian semblance, also led to rumors of her being a Christian.

Anyway, this is one example of how pluralism has not yet been properly understood. Part of the public still regards any difference in faith as a reflection of enmity rather than a reality that warrants respect. Pluralism is now only recognized from the viewpoint of the majority. Consequently, minority members are often targeted. This happens not only in relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, but also between Muslims themselves, such as the attacks on mosques owned by Ahmadiyah, a minority group.

It is not surprising, that minority groups are frequently victimized as a commodity to win sympathy in the struggle for the most votes. The Catholic community will certainly be wondering, "What's wrong if Herawati is a Catholic? Isn't this religion officially recognized by the government?"

The issue of religion used in a smear campaign to attack rivals is nothing new in Indonesia's political world. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was once a target of such an illegal campaign in the 1999 general elections by Islamic groups. The PDI-P was accused of having a Christian legislative majority and was therefore not worthy of Muslim votes. But the PDI-P was still victorious in the 1999 elections.

In the 2004 general elections, the Democratic Party was also blamed as the political vehicle of non-Muslim politicians, but this party won in the presidential bid.

President Soeharto was attacked in the same way when Tien Soeharto was rumored to be Catholic. Soeharto denied it by taking his wife along on a haj. In reality, Soeharto's downfall was not because of the "Catholic" rumor, but rather due to ever growing and expanding pro-democracy movements.

After Indonesia's two direct presidential elections, the time has come for the political elite to be wiser in the contest for winning votes in future elections.

This is one of the lessons to be learned from the presidential election campaign. Raising issues of religion has proven to be less effective for boosting the popularity of candidates.

Indonesian society is now smart enough to make informed choices. The religious issue trick has shown the relevant campaign team's lack of intelligence and panicked fear of losing the election.

Despite the shortcomings of the current election, Indonesia has been progressing fairly well in its pursuit of democracy. So, it will be deeply regretted if the nation's democratic events are marred by maneuvers to exploit religious sentiments without essential substance.

A look at the US elections shows how presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama was also subjected to a similar smear campaign. He was rumored to have studied at an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. His rival, John McCain, from the Republican Party even openly charged him with having once embraced Islam, as a minority group in America, even though Obama's father was actually a Muslim. However, such a campaign failed to reduce the fame of Obama, who finally won the election.

Politicizing religion is a dirty means of political rivalry and degrades religion by making it a political object.

Smear campaigns basically echo the same means applied by New Order ruler Soeharto, who accused his political opponents of being members of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Such allegations proved very effective, enhancing the popularity of Soeharto as a hero for the successful obliteration of communism in Indonesia.

But in many cases Soeharto utilized the PKI stigma to cater to his personal and group interests that frequently victimized the public. For example, people defying land clearance were promptly connected with being affiliated with the PKI. As a result, they had a deep fear of the stigma of the PKI as they might be considered as an enemy of the state. This fact led to the birth of authoritarian leaders opposed to the principles of democracy.

Such experiences provide lessons that the time is now over for the creation of such a stigma, which is in no way educative, by means of spreading religion-laden rumors and later disclaiming responsibility for it.

This is a challenge to our political elite. Practices that ignore the expression of minority groups will also develop into collective hatred, which may disturb social life. In its greatest magnitude, this development could cause national disintegration. Catholics also have the same right to emerge as national leaders in Indonesia, don't they?