Memories Of Atal S Depari Relieves PWI Member Cards For Azyumardi Azra

Prof. Azyumardi Azra. (Antara)

JAKARTA - Head of PWI Pusat Atal S Depari mourned when he heard the news of the passing of Prof. Dr. H. Azyumardi Azra, M.Phil, MA, CBE CBE. Although he has not interacted much with the deceased because of his busy schedule, there is one memory that makes him will not forget, namely when giving a PWI member card.

"I was very happy when I spoke with him after handing over the PWI member card to the late Prof. Azyumardi Azra shortly after he served as Chairman of the Press Council. This is after a long time the card has been inactive, he returned to his former alma mater," said Atal S Depari to VOI who contacted him on Sunday, September 19.

As is known, the deceased had worked as a journalist in Panji Masyarakat Magazine for the period 1979 - 1985. According to the official website of the Central PWI, the deceased has been registered as a member of PWI since March 4, 1987. However, after that, there have been more roles in the world of education, democracy and Islam. His career as a lecturer at the Faculty of Adab and Faculty of Tarbiyah IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah (now UIN Syarif Hidayatullah), Jakarta since 1992 and continues to grow to the peak of being a Professor in his alma mater. In December 2006, he served as Director of Pascasarjana UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. Previously from 1998 to the end of 2006 was the Chancellor of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

Although the commemoration of national press day is still long, in a meeting with the late Azyumardi Azra, he has shown attention to the annual event commemorating the national press day. "For 2023, the National Press Day Commemoration will be held in the city of Medan. When he met me he said he would send one of the Press Councils who could intensely prepare for the event. But it has not been realized that he has preceded all of us. Hopefully his deeds and worship during his life in the world will be accepted by Allah SWT," said Atal S Depari.

His duties as Chairman of the Press Council, continued Atal, were not light. However, all of this was carried out with high enthusiasm by the deceased. Azyumardi was elected as a member of the Press Council from the community. "Before he was elected he said to me, if he was a person who had a lot of comorbidities. But indeed death is a secret that is Almighty, anyone and anytime can face the Creator. Regardless of him who has comorbidities or not, maybe it's time for him to return to His day," said Atal, who did not have time to ask what the comorbidities were in the deceased.

In a news broadcast by the late VOI, according to a member of the Press Council Tri Agung Kristanto, Azyumardi Azra died of a heart attack (komorbid). After being at the hospital, it turned out that the Professor of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah was also confirmed to have COVID-19 after undergoing an examination at Serdang Hospital in Selangor, Malaysia.

One thing that caught the attention of Atal S Depari, after being elected as Chairman of the Press Council, Prof. Azyumardi was very diligent in fighting for press freedom. One of them is the fight for the contents of the Criminal Code Bill which can threaten press freedom. "He is very concerned about the freedom of the press in Indonesia. After being sworn in he is very active in fighting for the contents of the Criminal Code Bill, which in the legislature is that there are no articles that threaten the freedom of the press to be revised. He visited various parties including commissions in the DPR RI to convey aspirations," said Atal.

After Azyumardi Azra died, Atal S Depari hoped that anyone could continue what he had done. "We hope that someone can continue his struggle," he hoped.