Jakarta, Dec 2 (ANTARA News) - The 212 Almuni Reunion organized in the National Monument or Monas square on Sunday has become a trend of identity politics which blends political issues with religion, a youth organization said.

Secretary General of the Mathla`ul Anwar Youth organization (Gema MA), Arif Amaruddin said here on Sunday that the 212 almuni reunion has two positive and negative sides.

"The positive side is that the reunion served as a cordial meeting which brings together millions of Muslims in one place," Amaruddin said.

He said that cordial meeting is something good which is recommended by Islam. The activities were also good as it was accompanied with reading dzikir (chants in the name of God)

He said cordial meeting (silaturrahim) was also filled with dzikir, positive prayers and good intention to build cohesiveness.

But on the other hand, he regretted the use of jargon 212 which should not be used in the context of cordial meeting and dzikir event.

"This (the jargon) will tend to make people think towards identity politics or politics wrapped in religion" he said.

He argued that some people were not affected by the 212 Reunion because they already had their own preferences or had different political views.

? "The spirit and urgency of the rally are different from its spirit and urgency in its early history when the 212 rally was indeed related to political interests," he added.



Reporting by Hanni Sofia
Editing by Eliswan

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Eliswan Azly
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