Indonesia Becomes Model of Tolerance in Diversity: Minister

Jakarta - The Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, has stated that Indonesia has become a model of tolerance in religious and national diversity for the world. "Indonesian people are upholding democratic and egalitarian values, and they also have great respect for human rights," he said here on Thursday. "However, we still need to promote ethnic harmony. All religious communities must develop an attitude of tolerance, which involves respecting the sanctity of all places of worship and all scriptures. Also, there should be no acts of desecration of religious symbols," Suryadharma explained. He pointed out that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs to ensure that all Indonesian people were ¿religious, peaceful, intelligent, independent and prosperous, physically as well as spiritually¿. "The Ministry is focusing on five programs: improving the quality of religious life, improving the quality of religious harmony, increasing the quality of religious education, pilgrimage service improvement and good governance," Suryadharma noted. He stated that success of the Ministry¿s programmes could not be measured simply through charts and figures. "Improving the quality of religious life, religious harmony, and education involves the overall development of human beings and the society we live in. We need to give it some time before we can enjoy the results of our efforts," Suryadharma said. He noted that the government had succeeded in providing improved pilgrimage services to the Indonesian people last year by making the necessary policy changes. "However, the government needs to further improve in this area," Suryadharma said. (*)