The Jak Pos, Jakarta, Sat, June 18 2016
An inter-religious breaking-of-the-fast gathering, or iftar, attended by former first lady Sinta Nuriyah Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday had to be relocated following protests from Islam Defenders Front (FPI) Central Java branch who opposed the event being held in a church in Semarang, Central Java.
Sinta, the founder of Puan Amal Hayati, has held the inter-religious event during Ramadhan for the past 16 years, since her time as wife of Indonesia's fourth president the late Abdurrahman Wahid.
This was the first time for her to have to relocate the event following protests by a mass organization opposed to having the iftar held in a church, according to Inter-Faith Commission Head of Semarang archdiocese Pastor Aloysius Budi Purnomo as reported by kompas.com.
The event was planned to be held in the Raja Ungaran Church on Thursday and was moved to St. Yakobus Zebedeus Church in Pudakpayung, Semarang after objections. However, FPI still opposed the event and it was finally held in Pudakpayung administrative village hall in the afternoon.
Budi said in a statement that it was agreed to relocate the event to the administrative village hall. Churchgoers were allowed to welcome Sinta only at the churchyard and there must not be Islamic religious rituals such as prayers, the adzan, or Quran recitals conducted in the church location.
The iftar event with Sinta had been planned for weeks and involved several local Muslim figures, said Yanti, 50, a member of the Yakobus Church congregation. The organizers also invited 425 local people, local figures, mosque officials, village officials as well as the church congregation.
The relocated iftar event was held without problem on Thursday and was safeguarded by dozens of police and members of Banser, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama. Sinta attended the event accompanied by Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi and several local religious figures.
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ma 20 jun 2016 - 1:07