.bmp)
.bmp)
JAKARTA-A small, influential Islamist party in Indonesia is alarming moderates who fear this secular but predominantly Muslim country may head for wider use of sharia law and become less tolerant of other religions and cultures.The sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago, home to the largest Muslim population in the world as well as to substantial Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist minorities, has enshrined religious freedom in its constitution.But with the rising influence of the PKS party, some moderates fear Indonesia will tilt towards more conservative Islamic and nationalist policies such as Islamic laws requiring women to wear hijabs and permitting polygamy, curbs on minority religions, and perhaps a cooler welcome for foreign investors."You can forget about the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees freedom for all kinds of minorities," said former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who remains influential in Indonesia's biggest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama or NU."They would try to enact Islamic law," he said, referring to the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an Islamist party which draws inspiration from Egypt's banned Islamist party the Muslim Brotherhood.Already, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a reformist ex-general who depends on a coalition including Islamist parties, has bowed to pressure from militant Muslims by ordering restrictions on a controversial Islamic sect last month.In the decade since former president Suharto's ouster,which ended 32 years of autocratic rule, democracy has flourished. Indonesia has new political parties, direct elections for the president and local leaders, and greater freedom of speech, including a wide range of moderate and extremist religious views.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
