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Pluralist lecturer told to apologize

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2015

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Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Amid calls for the government to protect a lecturer at Ar-Raniry State Islamic University (UIN) who is under threat for efforts toward peace and tolerance, the university is asking her to apologize to the public.

UIN authorities, in a recommendation, have asked lecturer Rosnida Sari to apologize publicly through the media and admit she was mistaken to take students to a Protestant church in Banda Aceh – not a Catholic church as previously reported – to visit and hold a dialogue with church ministers as part of a study tour. The visit was part of a subject on Islamic gender studies taught by Rosnida.

UIN Propagation and Communication School dean, A. Rani Usman, said the recommendation was the result of a senate meeting and a hearing with lecturers on the issue. "This is a form of sanction we have recommended to the [university] leadership through a senate meeting," said Rani.

Rosnida, a Muslim lecturer, is required to apologize publicly to the school's leadership and academics, UIN rector, parents, community leaders and the entire Aceh community through the media. The university authorities have also suspended Rosnida from teaching to appease her critics.

According to Rani, the apology was aimed at saving Rosnida and calming the situation as there was pressure from various circles less familiar with the situation trying to take advantage of the situation.

The UIN management will also provide religious guidance and counseling to Rosnida during her suspension from academic duties. "However, it's still a recommendation. The rector decides the sanctions," said Rani.

Rosnida has been intimidated by Acehnese clerics and fellow university lecturers and bullied on social media after she invited a number of her students to visit and hold a dialogue in a church last week.

Rosnida said she and her family had been intimidated and she had been accused of "Christianizing" her students. She said the voluntary visit to the church was part of a creative teaching method for Muslim students to understand faiths and build mutual understanding and religious tolerance.

"Rosnida's mistake was probably her ignorance of the social and cultural conditions in Aceh and the implementation of sharia," said Rani.

UIN Rector H. Farid Wajdi Ibrahim said Rosnida's action was not an academic violation. "It is commonplace for academics to conduct a comparative study to houses of worship because we also have courses related to Christology," Farid said, adding the university did not restrict students or lecturers from anything for the sake of education and knowledge. "Freedom in the academic field must be upheld," said Farid.

However, Farid said the university had received pressure from various parties to impose sanctions on Rosnida. Farid said he would not immediately impose any sanction before holding an executive meeting.

Personally, the rector said, he did not think Rosnida had made a mistake. "Let's cool down first. There are two different perspectives in the case, academic and social," said Farid.

The rector said that the Aceh community could not yet accept such matters socially and wisdom from academics was essential in carrying out educational activities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/10/pluralist-lecturer-told-apologize.html.