"combating Muslim fundamentalism"? From street brawls to jihad? Our of the frying pan into the fire from OUR perspective.
Indonesia: Koran scandal thickens
last update: July 05, 17:52
http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Religion/Indonesia-Koran-scandal-thickens_313474741354.html
Jakarta, 5 July (AKI/Jakarta Post) - With the controversy over the 2011 Koran procurement project barely over, the Indonesian House of Representatives said it had approved a request to double the budget for procurement of the holy book for 2012.
Lawmaker Muhammad Baghowi of House Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs said that the House had approved the Religious Affairs Ministry’s budget proposal for Rp 110 billion (US$ 11.77 million) for the 2012 Koran procurement project.
Baghowi, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said Commission VIII had agreed to double the budget from 2011’s Rp 55 billion as part of its support to strengthen the faith of Muslims.
“We discussed it [the budget increase], with the Religious Affairs Ministry, and agreed to the proposal because we felt that morality in society has deteriorated rapidly,” Baghowi said, adding that one of the indications of such moral decline was the frequency of street brawls.
Baghowi, however, admitted that the Religious Affairs Ministry had kept lawmakers in dark over how much each Koran would cost taxpayers, as the ministry gave no details about the project when they convened for budget deliberations last year.
Members of Commission VIII have given conflicting statements over how much the Koran procurement project would cost taxpayers.
Jazuli Juwaini of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), for instance, said that Commission VIII approved around Rp 22 billion for the procurement project, while Inggrid Kansil of the Democratic Party said the House had put the project’s price tag at Rp 50 billion, with each Koran costing Rp 1 million.
Commission VIII deputy chairperson Chairunissa of the Golkar Party, who claimed that she signed off on the budget proposal, told reporters that the Religious Affairs Ministry initially requested Rp 70 billion for the project.
“We only approved Rp 55 billion due to budget constraints,” she said. Chairunnisa said that details of the project, including the price of each Koran and which printing companies had been appointed for the project were not divulged by the ministry.
Chairunnisa also said that she was not responsible for rigging the tender project in favor of PT KSAI, a printing firm owned by the son of Commission VIII lawmaker Zulkarnaen Djabar.
“None of us [on Commission VIII] were allowed to interfere with the decision on which companies won the project,” she said.
Zulkarnaen and his son Dendi Prasetya have been named suspects for their roles in the Koran procurement project by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
The graft-ridden project will likely implicate Zulkarnaen’s colleagues from Commission VIII as a majority of them were reported to have accepted hundreds of Korans to later distributed to their constituents.
Some of the lawmakers denied that the Koran handouts constituted graft, arguing instead that considered the action a part of combating Muslim fundamentalism in the country.
“We are accountable for the free Koran distribution. It is part of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s efforts to strengthen the faith of Muslims and to tackle growing radicalism. It’s just an issue of distributing the holy books. We are helping the ministry by accepting the Korans to be distributed to the voters in our electoral districts. Holy books are holy books no matter what,” Jazuli said.
Others said that they had good intentions to help the ministry.
“We are willing to participate in the distribution [of the Korans] to help the ministry reach out to Muslims, who could live far from our electoral districts,” said Chairunnisa.
Some, however, were furious with the Koran procurement scandal. “Those involved in the Koran graft are worse than Satan,” said Commission VIII member Ali Maschan Musa of the National Awakening Party (PKB), who received 18 boxes of the holy books
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