I

ndonesia will host a conference for Asian Muslim and Christian leaders in Jakarta from Feb. 26 to March 1.

The conference, themed “Bringing a common word to common action for justice”, is organized by the International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS), the Indonesian Bishops Council (KWI) and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI). It is also supported by the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).

“It is expected that through this conference religious leaders from both sides could improve personal relationships in order to address social problems such as injustice and other forms of social and economic conflict,” ICIS secretary-general Hasyim Muzadi said in Jakarta on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

Hasyim said the conference would be a place for him to discuss a number of incidents involving followers of the two Abrahamic faiths that appear to show a growing intolerance across the country. He argued that politics and income gap were behind many religious conflicts in the country.

PGI secretary Rev. Gomar Gultom shared the same perspective, saying that religious conflicts in Indonesia had never found an ideological basis.

Therefore, he went on, the country still had the chance to develop inter-religious relationships in order to quell religious fanaticism.