"I have attended two meetings with King Salman during his visit in Jakarta. He lauded religious tolerance in Indonesia," Yenny Wahid, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, noted here on Saturday.
Yenny attended the meeting between King Salman and President Joko Widodo at the State Palace on Thursday (Mar 2) and the limited meeting held at the Raffles Hotel in Jakarta on Friday.
She was invited to the meeting in her capacity as one of the religious leaders from the Wahid Institute.
According to Yenny, King Salman also praised the political stability in Indonesia owing to the harmonious relations between religious adherents in the country.
The king also stressed the importance of interfaith dialog. Yenny pointed out that in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government has implemented a policy on the need for interfaith dialog.
"He cited as an example the Abdul Aziz Center in Vienna that was set up to facilitate interfaith dialog," Yenny, who is also the director of the Wahid Institute, remarked.
She said the Saudi government was now paying greater attention to Indonesia. This indicates Indonesias increasing role in the global arena.
Earlier during a meeting at the Raffles Hotel, King Salman said that Indonesias stability is the fruit of the tolerant spirit and peaceful co-existence among all sections of Indonesian society.
"We should be able to cooperate to maintain communication by holding dialogues among adherents of different faiths to strengthen the values of tolerance," King Salman stated at a meeting with 28 figures of different faiths at the Raffles Hotel here.
President Joko Widodo, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, and representatives of Islam, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian faiths also attended the meeting.
"All religions strive to protect the rights and happiness of human beings, and hence, it is important to fight against radicalism and extremism," the Saudi King affirmed.
President Widodo introduced figures of different faiths to King Salman.
"His Majesty, the leaders of different faiths are models for their congregation for developing the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect, which is essential in the relations among adherents of different faiths in Indonesia. This is a valuable asset for the Indonesian nation in contributing to peace, particularly global peace," the president noted.
Chairman of the Indonesian Bishops Conference Mgr Ignatius Suharyo expressed gratitude to the Indonesian government for initiating the interfaith dialog.
Buddhist leader Suhadi Sanjaya expressed hope that King Salman would take an active part in creating peace and happiness for all mankind.
Uung Sendana, representing the Confucian community, expressed optimism that a similar meeting would be held in the future.
"The initiative to hold such a meeting came from His Majesty and received support from the Indonesian government. It really touches the heart of all of us. It inspires all people, so not only Saudi Arabia-Indonesia relations but inter-religious ties will also become closer," he remarked.
Former rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Azyumardi Azra hailed King Salmans call to fight against radicalism and extremism.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
