Dear Ustaz Khalid Basalamah, BNPT Requests To Be A Preacher With Pancasila Insights, Uphold Tolerance

JAKARTA - Deputy for Enforcement and Capacity Building for the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), Inspector General Ibnu Suhendra, responded to Ustaz Khalid Basalamah's statement about the prohibition of wayang.

"We support the clarification efforts, including the legal process, because if wayang is prohibited (forbidden) then other cultures can also be prohibited, including Gandrung, which is a traditional dance from Banyuwangi, my area," said Suhendra at the Singhasari Hotel and Resort in Batu, East Java, as quoted by Antara. Between, Tuesday, February 15th.

Ibnu stated that in the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) of the Coordination Forum for the Prevention of Terrorism IX-2022 attended by 34 provinces, including the new FKPT, namely Papua and West Papua.

"If there are indications of intolerance in Ustadz Khalid Basalamah's statement, it is necessary that our firm stance that he conveyed violates the law," he said.

"Be a preacher who has the national insight of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, the Republic of Indonesia upholds tolerance, diversity, mutual respect for fellow human beings, and is obliged to preserve national culture throughout Indonesia," he added.

He said that intolerance was the beginning of the formation of radicalism, which gave birth to extremism and the downstream of terrorism. Intolerance of diversity is now increasingly widespread, namely there is an exclusive attitude by disbelieving people outside the group.

Basalamah through a video uploaded on the Khalid Basalamah Official YouTube channel, Monday, has clarified and apologized for a video clip of his lecture about wayang.

His clarification and apology was conveyed because of the circulation of a video clip of his lecture that called wayang haram in Islamic teachings.

According to him, his video lecture about wayang is a snippet of a question asked by the congregation at the Blok M Mosque in Jakarta several years ago.

He emphasized that in the answer in the viral video clip, there were no words that forbade wayang. He conveyed only invites to make Islam as a tradition.