Jusuf Kalla: Din Syamsuddin Is Not A Radical Figure

JAKARTA - The 10th and 12th Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla considered the former Chairman of PP Muhammadiyah Din Syamsuddin not a radical figure as suggested by a group calling itself the ITB Alumni Anti-Radicalism Movement (GAR). According to him, Din Syamsuddin is a very tolerant figure and is a pioneer of inter-religious umar in the international arena.

So, JK was surprised when there were allegations that Din was a radical figure. This is because he is considered a figure who often travels to many countries to discuss peace between religious communities.

"Pak Din is very unlikely to be radical. He is a pioneer of dialogue between religions and that is on an international level. I often told him, 'Pak Din, you are better than the Foreign Minister. Always travel the world just to discuss matters of peace and interreligious matters'. So people are not radical. They are not radical at all, "he said in a written statement to reporters, Monday, February 15.

Meanwhile, regarding Din's status as an ASN which is considered unethical in politics, such as the GAR-ITB report, JK explained that the lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta was not an ASN in a government structure but an academic function. Thus, Din was considered not to violate ethics when delivering criticism in accordance with his scientific background.

"ASN is divided into two, there are ASNs that are in the government structure ASNs that cannot be criticized by the government because they are in the government structure. There are academic ASNs as lecturers and so on, well, that's where Pak Din is. This is not a matter of ethics to criticize as ASN but he used his knowledge to talk about something, "he said.

Moreover, many civil servants are lecturers who have a critical view of the government. So, he asked all parties to respect this view because it is a professional view.

"Those who have a critical view of the government are not only Pak Din, but there are also chancellors from all over the country who sometimes make different views from the government and that's okay," he said.

"A university lecturer, say at UI there is Mr. Faisal Basri, he always criticizes the government, it's okay if he is professional, and it does not violate ASN ethics unless he as Director General then criticizes the government, that's just wrong. For an academic even though he is a ASN then expressed its view, although it was different from the government, that was the view of the profession and we must respect that, "added JK.

In the future, he hopes there will be no more reports like this against academics, including those with ASN status and giving their critical views to the government. This is because this kind of view is necessary in order to prevent the state from becoming authoritarian.

"So if anyone wants to question Pak Din's position as ASN and his views on the government, that means he does not understand the law, and that GAR members are ITB alumni but institutionally ITB has also said that they are not an official organization of ITB," he concluded. .