PKS: The Ministry Of Religion Does Not Have To Revoke The Ponpes Permit, But The Perpetrators Who Are Severely Punished

Bukhori Yusuf/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VIII of the DPR from the PKS faction, Bukhori Yusuf, highlighted the revocation of the permit for the Majma'al Bahrain Shiddiqiyayah Islamic boarding school, Jombang, East Java, by the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag). The revocation was due to obstructing the police from arresting the suspect in the sexual abuse of female students, Moch Subchi Azal Tsani (MSAT) alias Mas Bechi (42).

According to Bukhori, the Ministry of Religion does not need to revoke the permit or dissolve the Islamic boarding school.

"It doesn't have to be revoked and disbanded," said Bukhori to reporters, Friday, July 8. The Ministry of Religion, he continued, should evaluate the educational process at Kiai Haji Muhammad Mukhtar's Islamic boarding school, Mukthi alias Kiai Tar. According to Bukhori, the Ministry of Religion should also focus more on saving students and female students.

"What needs to be saved are the students and the educational process," he said. Even though he did not agree that the Islamic boarding school permit was revoked, Bukhori urged law enforcement to give Bechi severe punishment. "The perpetrator (Mas Bechi) should be the one who was severely punished," concluded the chairman of the PKS DPP.

Previously, the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) revoked the operational permit for the Majma'al Bahroin Islamic Boarding School, Wathon Minal, Iman Shiddiqiyyah, or better known as the Shiddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java.

The operational revocation was the result of the sexual abuse of female students by Mochammad Subchi Azal Tsani alias Bechi who was the son of the pesantren leader, namely Kiai Haji Muhammad Mukhtar Mukthi alias Kiai Tar.

"As a regulator, the Ministry of Religion has the administrative power to limit the movement of institutions in which it is suspected of violating severe laws," said Director of Education Diniyah and Islamic Boarding School, Waryono, in a written statement, Thursday, July 7. The Shiddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School continues to hinder the police from arresting Bechi, who has been named a suspect.

Waryono said the actions of the pesantren were a form of obstructing the law enforcement process. Statistical numbers and signs of the list of pesantren have also been frozen by the Ministry of Religion.