Nazry Bahrawiin Today Online 4 Nov 08;
EXPECT a “confrontation” between the state and lay Muslims if Jakarta moves ahead with its nuclearisation plans without securing the consent of the national council of Islamic clerics, one of Indonesia’s leading environmental activists warned recently.
Indonesia plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the earthquake-prone region of Jepara in central Java by 2010.
“If the Majlis Ugama Indonesia (MUI) does not give the green light for this project, the people may take up the cause of eco-jihad to the streets,” said Mr Fachruddin M Mangunjaya of Conservation International Indonesia. He spoke to Today recently, on the sidelines of a seminar on Islam and conservation in Indonesia held at the University of Edinburgh. The prospect of “eco-jihad” had been raised earlier by a member of the audience.
Already, green protests have sprung up in Indonesia, saidMr Fachruddin, pointing to demonstrations against the Sidoarjo mud flow at East Java, which started in May 2006. Research by British-based scientists has found that the mud flow was caused by drilling activities by a mining firm owned by the nation’s welfare minister.
In September last year, scholars from the Jepara chapter of the Nadhatul Ulama (NU) — Indonesia’s largest Islamic group — declared it “haram” (impermissible) for the government to build a nuclear plant there because it would endanger residents’ lives. Mr Fachruddin cautioned against looking at the term “eco-jihad” negatively, and said there was only a slim chance that extremist groups would hijack the green cause to recruit new members.
“Jihad is not a dirty word to be associated with extremists only,” he said. “When Muslims strive for the betterment of humanity such as improving the quality of education, we are said to be making jihad.”
Furthermore, he is not totally against Indonesia’s nuclearisation. “I believe a nuclear plant could be set up in Kalimantan which is situated in Borneo ... Compared to the other parts of Indonesia, there is a lack of volcanic and earthquake activities there,” he said. “You can then transport the energy ... not just to other parts of Indonesia, but also sell it to Malaysia and Brunei.”
The writer is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Comparative and General Literature at the University of Edinburgh under the British Chevening scholarship.
