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Aceh lecturer threatened for pluralism stance

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2015

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Ridwan Max Sijabat and Hotli Simanjuntak, Jakarta/Banda Aceh – An alliance of NGOs and individuals has called on the government to protect a lecturer at Ar-Raniry State Islamic University in Banda Aceh, who has been intimidated and is under threat for her efforts to develop peace and tolerance.

Dian Kartika, spokesperson for the NGO alliance, said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had to guarantee the protection of the lecturer, Rosnida Sari, to uphold academic freedom and allow her to promote tolerance among her students.

"The National Police chief and the Religious Affairs minister should make immediate and strong coordinating efforts to calm the tension in Banda Aceh," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone on Thursday.

The NGOs include the Indonesian Coalition for Women, Empowerment and Development of Society Foundation in South Sulawesi, Migrant Care, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Women's Education Watch and the Institute of Global Justice.

Rosnida, a Muslim lecturer, is being heavily intimidated by Acehnese clerics and fellow lecturers in the university and has been bullied on social media after she invited a number of her students to visit and hold a dialogue in a Catholic church in Banda Aceh last week.

Following mounting protests from numerous sides, Rosnida has been suspended and asked to stop teaching for the time being.

Rosnida said she and her family had been intimidated and she had been accused of "Christianizing" her students, as well as being temporarily suspended by the university.

She admitted that she invited her students to voluntarily make a visit to the Catholic church so that they could understand the religion and hold a dialogue with the church minister.

"The church visit, conducted voluntarily, is part of my creative teaching method to have Muslim students understand other faiths and build mutual understanding and religious tolerance.

"The creative teaching method is aimed at [...] phasing out the prejudice formed by print and electronic media," she said.

Meanwhile, UIN Ar-Raniry lecturer Yusni Sabi believes that Rosnida's article in online media had triggered misunderstandings by readers because they could not understand what she was trying to express.

The writing referred to by Yusni was Rosnida's article on australiaplus.com, in which she talks about how she was inspired to invite students to learn gender studies in Islam at the church after she had studied in Australia.

He said that in the academic context, it was usual to visit other houses of worship, especially in the context of a comparative study with another religion. Before Rosnida's case surfaced, the university had often sent students on field trips to churches and temples as part of the learning process.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/09/aceh-lecturer-threatened-pluralism-stance.html.