Hope Religious Figures Contribut Global Problem Solutions, PBNU Singggung Persekusi In Iraq

PBNU General Chair Yahya Cholil Staquf (second from the right) during a press conference at the G20 Religion Forum in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 7. (Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), KH Yahya Cholil Staquf alias Gus Yahya, believes that religious leaders in the world must think about ways or efforts so that religion can be part of the solution to existing global problems.

"Tokoh agama-religia ini harus berpikir juga bagaimana agama bisa menjadi bagian dari solusi masalah-masal global," kata dia dalam konferensi pers Forum Religion of Twenty (R20) atau G20 Religion Forum di Jakarta, dikutip dari Antara, Rabu 7 September.

Thus, he continued, PBNU also initiated the implementation of R20 which will bring together leading religious leaders from all over the world in Nusa Dua, Bali, from November 2 to 3, 2022.

Gus Yahya said the event was to discuss ways so that religion could act as a solution to global problems. The global problems include economic, global politics, and the environment, as also discussed in the G20 forum.

Furthermore, he conveyed that the basic idea of organizing a fully supported R20 by the government is PBNU's desire to make a more honest discussional basis between religious leaders and immediately target for real problems.

In addition to global problems, he added, there are also interfaith problems in this world that need to be solved.

He conveyed, so far in various parts of the world, there are still problems between religions that have not been resolved, such as persecution and discrimination against a religious group.

"As has happened in Iraq, since 2003 until today, persecution is still ongoing. In Iraq, in the 1990s the Christian community there reached about 3.5 million people. Today, there are no more than 200,000 people left," he said.

Therefore, he said, R20 as a forum which was also held related to the momentum of Indonesia's G20 chairmanship aims to make religion a solution to various problems, both global problems in general and interfaith problems. In addition, the forum also seeks that religion stop being a source of problems.