Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The National Awakening Party (PKB) called on its rank and file as well as on Nahdlatul Ulama members to give protection to all minority groups including the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect members.

"PKB and NU members must protect Ahmadiyah and other religious followers," PKB`s general chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said at the declaration of "Gerakan Kebangsaan" (nationalist movement) at the PKB headquarters here on Wednesday.

The movement aims at assuring pluralism and religious freedom and freedom to practice religions.

He said it was alright to disagree with others` belief but taking a violent act against certain group was unjustifiable.

"No citizen has a right to judge others as deviating," he said.

In view of that he called on all Moslems particularly members of Nahdlatul Ulama Islamic organization not to be provoked by certain group who had conducted violence on other group using Islam as their banner.

"Do not shame on Islam," he said.

PKB, set up by NU leaders, meanwhile has also urged security agencies to work more systematically to anticipate possible horizontal conflicts in the community.

"The police must take systematic steps using the capability they have and not to allow impunity," he said.

The chairman of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, Siti Musdah Mulia, meanwhile said the group that conducted violence using Islam as their banner had hijacked Islam.

"I was hurt to see a group hijacking Islam to justify actions which are not Islamic," she said.

A Catholic priest, Frans Magnis Suseno, expressed relief that there are a lot of Islamic leaders, intellectuals and Moslems who reject violence. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011