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Alleged rift seen at Relegious Affairs Ministry over Ahmadiyah

The Jakarta Post,

Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has won support from interfaith activists with his call for the National Police to take seriously the attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java.

He also urged police to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Nasaruddin’s statement came as a surprise because it is in direct opposition to that of Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who said the Ahmadis must obey the law.

It has raised speculation among the public that there is dissension at the ministry.

Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said on Tuesday that Nasaruddin seemed to have taken a stance different from his superior. “Maybe there are differences between them in the ministry. If that is the case, it means there is a problem in the government and that officials don’t have solid relationships,” he said.

Todung praised Nasaruddin’s statement, saying that the deputy minister had shown he was fully supportive of religious minority groups in the country and expressed religious tolerance.

“Nasaruddin’s a very open-minded person and he really respects people’s freedom of religion. I have never heard or seen him degrade or discredit other people’s beliefs. He should be an example for other officials. The minister, on the other hand, doesn’t possess the same kind of spirit as Nasaruddin,” he added.

Support for Nasaruddin also came from Ali Maschan Moesa, a National Awakening Party (PKB) politician who is also a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII on religious affairs.

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Categories: Asia, Indonesia

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  1. Who is Nasaruddin Umar?

    According to Wikipedia:

    “Professor Dr. Nasaruddin Umar is the founder of the Indonesian interfaith organization Masyarakat Dialog antar Umat Beragama and is a director in the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs (Departemen Agama). He is also a member of the UK-Indonesia Advisory Team, founded by UK prime minister Tony Blair

    He is the author of 12 books, among them: Argumen Kesetaraan Gender Perspektif Al-Quran (Paramadina, 1999), which examines gender bias in the Quran.

    Education

    Nasaruddin Umar did his postgraduate studies at IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, resulting is a Magister degree (1992), and a doctorate (1998)..

    During his doctorate studies, he was a visiting student for a PhD Program at McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1993–1994), and a visiting student for a PhD Program at Leiden University, Netherlands (1994–1995).

    After achieving his doctorate, he was a visiting scholar at Shopia University, Tokyo (2001), a visiting scholar at SAOS University of London (2001–2002), and a visiting Scholar at Georgetown University, Washington DC (2003–2004).

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