Madura Ulemas to Protest to prsident Recommendations of Rights Body

Pamekasan, E Java (ANTARA) - Ulemas in Madura island are planning to write to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House of Representatives (DPR) to reject five recommendations issued by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). "In essence, the letter will contain our rejection of Komnas HAM's five recommendations," the coordinator of the association of ulemas of Islamic boarding schools in Madura, KH, Moh Rofi'i Baidlowi, said on Saturday evening. He noted that local ulemas felt it necessary to write to the President and the DPR, saying the recommendations, if implemented, would harm Muslim interests. In its recommendations, the Komnas HAM, among others, called for the lifting of the ban on interfaith marriages, as set forth in Law No. 1/1974 on marriage. The agency also recommended the abolition of clauses in Law No. 23/2006 requiring the inclusion of religion on identity cards. Further, it recommended the revocation of a joint decree of the religious affairs minister and the home affairs minister, which it said had obstructed the freedom of minority groups to establish places of worship. "If the recommendations are accepted, they will damage the morals and beliefs of Muslims in Indonesia," he said. Therefore, he added, ulemas from throughout Madura island had agreed to reject the recommendations and ask the President and the House of Representatives not to accept them, which he said might threaten harmony among adherents of different faiths.(*)