Mayor Edi Rusdi Invites Pontianak Residents Not To Bring SARA Into Dispute, We Are All Brothers

The Mayor of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Edi Rusdi Kamtono (ANTARA)

PONTIANAK - The Mayor of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Edi Rusdi Kamtono invites all residents to maintain tolerance so that social life remains harmonious and peaceful.

"If we can take care of this, God willing, Pontianak City will become a city that has high tolerance," said Edi Rusdi Kamtono after attending a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and coordination meeting addressing the development of intolerance and radicalization in West Kalimantan, Antara, Wednesday, October 6.

So far, religious life in Pontianak City has been going well. Every moment of worship of each religion also promotes tolerance and understanding between its adherents. And no less important is understanding the surrounding environment with local wisdom that all brothers and sisters.

Dialogue is also a forum for strengthening relations between religious and ethnic groups. The dialogue forum can be carried out by community organizations, associations, ethnic groups, religions, and so on, he said.

"Through the forum, it is hoped that problems that occur in the community can be resolved amicably," he said.

Then, Edi also appealed to the public not to bring issues of ethnicity, religion, race, and group (SARA) into a dispute. He asked all parties to be able to refrain from dealing with primordialism so that the issue is not exaggerated.

"We are all brothers, so we hope that the elites and groups and others will not exaggerate the problem of primordialism in everyday life," he said.

He also reminded the public to be wise in social media and asked the public not to easily believe in news uploads that lead to intolerance and division.

For this reason, he appealed to the public not to upload things that made the situation hot so that it could trigger disputes.

"Sometimes these social media posts, which happened several years ago, appear now, thus triggering conflict," he said.