Kalla: No Religious-based Conflict
Thursday, 15 May, 2008 | 16:13 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that religion actually never was a reason for a conflict in Indonesia, for example, like what happened in Ambon and Poso.

“All this was due to unbalanced politics and the economy , and lack of preparedness for democracy,” said Kalla to religious leaders from 12 countries attending the pre-assembly meeting for the Asian Conference On Religions for Peace at the Hotel Atlet Century (14/5) Wednesday night.

They used religion to justify the conflict. “While actually it is not because of religion,” he said.

The Vice President said conflict between different religious groups is difficult to solve. A special approach should be used. “In this kind of conflict, people are ready to die in the name of religion,” he said.

“Religious philosophy is needed to solve this sort of conflict,” said Kalla

Furthermore, Kalla said, none of these religions teach killing innocent people. “People should understand this,” he said. “I think, conflict will take them to hell instead of heaven.”

Conflicting religious leaders need to be convinced that conflict in Poso and Ambon has created huge losses and disasters, he continued. “It took two years to reduce that conflict,” he said.

He admits the conflict is not completely finished. “It needs patience and a longer time,” he said.

The President of the Asian Conference on Religion for Peace , who is also head of Muhammadiyah, Dien Syamsuddin, said Jusuf Kalla is a prominent figure for conflict resolution in Indonesia. “Conflict in Ambon and Poso are caused by unscrupulousness.”

Anton Aprianto