REUTERS, Thursday December 6, 2001 7:48 PM
Indonesians petition against religious extremism
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Around 10,000 Indonesians have signed a petition aiming to
show the world that most people in the giant Muslim country are against religious
extremism, an organiser of the campaign said on Thursday.
Tamalia Alisjahbana, a prominent Jakarta citizen, told Reuters there was no specific
target for the petition in which people express their support for moderation and
tolerance, but the signatures received so far would soon be presented to President
Megawati Sukarnoputri.
The petition is the first concerted campaign by ordinary Indonesians to dispel
perceptions about an upsurge in religious radicalism in the world's largest Muslim
nation following recent street protests over the U.S.-led bombing in Afghanistan.
"Our aim is to show the outside world that most Indonesians are moderate and
tolerant," said Alisjahbana, whose father was a leading intellectual during the fight
against Dutch colonialism.
"The government needs to feel it has the support of people who are moderate but not
that vocal. We want to defend the Indonesian way of life, which is to live together in
tolerance."
Most Indonesians were against the bombing of Afghanistan but also disagreed with
the street protests and threats against foreigners made by radical Muslim groups.
Those protests, after failing to trigger widespread support, petered out weeks ago.
But the radical groups and the TV images still held centre stage for some time as
Megawati's government dithered over its response to the U.S. raids on Islamic
Afghanistan and many moderate Muslim leaders refrained from speaking out.
Alisjahbana said signatories represented a wide variety of Indonesians, from factory
workers to housewives and businessmen.
The petition, also organised by Amanda Suharnoko, chairwoman of the Society of
Inter-Religious Dialogue in Indonesia, was sent out through various groups and
signatures were still coming in.
Alisjahbana said the number of signatures was already well above the numbers who
took part in the biggest street protests organised by the radical groups.
She said while ordinary Indonesians in Jakarta wanted to protest the international
perceptions of the country, they didn't want to hit the streets partly because city
residents were fed up with street demonstrations.
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