MUI welcomes settlement of Tolikara incident through traditional wisdom

Jayapura, Papua, July 30 (Antara) - The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) has hailed the agreement reached between the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI) and Muslim community in Tolikara to settle the recent incident using traditional wisdom. "The unity of the religious leaders and the settlement of the Tolikara incident through the use of traditional wisdom is indeed our objective to ensure that peace prevails until the end of time," MUI's deputy secretary general, K.H. Tengku Zulkarnain, stated here on Thursday. He made the statement after delivering a sermon at an Eid commemoration gathering at the office of Jayapura's mayor. He affirmed that all parties must exercise restraint to prevent such an incident from recurring in the future. "There should be no further problems as they would only embarrass us," he remarked. Regarding the request put forth by the GIDI and Tolikara Muslim community to the regional police to stop the legal process related to the case, Zulkarnain noted that he would fully refer the decision to the authorities. "We fully refer the decision to the law authorities as we have no right to interfere in a legal process, and so, we would fully refer the process to the law enforcement agency," he emphasized. Religious leaders in Papua province have arrived at an agreement to settle the incident in Tolikara district by using traditional wisdom. "We agreed and approved to firstly settle the Tolikara incident peacefully, amicably for now and forever," GIDI President Dorman Wandikmbo stated. A Muslim leader of Tolikara district Ali Multar also expressed support to the settlement of the incident through traditional wisdom. "We, representing the Muslim community and leaders in Tolikara state, agree that the incident in Tolikara must be settled peacefully and that it was not a religious conflict or a SARA (tribe, religious, racial and group differences) issue," he remarked. A group of people believed to be the members of GIDI stormed the venue where Muslims were performing an Eid prayer on Friday. According to Chairman of the Communion of Evangelical Churches and Institutions in Indonesia Roni Mandang, chaos broke out after police officers fired shots at them, which led to the torching of kiosks. Flames from these fires spread to the Islamic house of prayer. It was also reported that a person had been shot dead. Moreover, Spokesman for the Public Information Division of the National Police Senior Commissioner Suharsono remarked that the police had opened fire to control the rioters and to keep them away from the mosque. It was later confirmed that one person was killed, and 11 others were wounded in the incident. The situation in the country was tense following the incident. In connection with the incident in Tolikara, two suspects have been caught who admitted to have pelted stones at the Muslims performing Idul Fitri prayers on July 17, a police officer stated. The suspects, identified as AK and JW, were arrested on July 24 for their alleged involvement in the attack, Spokesman of the Papua provincial police headquarters Senior Commissioner Patrige recently noted. Based on the witnesses' confessions and a video footage, it was revealed that the two suspects were provocateurs. One of them had even used a loudspeaker to instigate the angry mob, he revealed.