Interfaith Leaders Visit Jusuf Kalla, Emphasize Religion’s Role as a Force for Peace

JAKARTA — A group of prominent interfaith leaders visited the residence of former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla in South Jakarta on Thursday evening, in a private meeting that underscored growing concerns over the misuse of religious narratives in public discourse.

The gathering, held at Mr. Kalla’s home in Kebayoran Baru, followed a wave of controversy sparked by a viral, edited clip of a recent lecture he delivered at Gadjah Mada University. The truncated video, widely circulated on social media, drew criticism and prompted accusations of religious insensitivity from several groups.

Among those in attendance were Din Syamsuddin, a former chairman of Muhammadiyah; the Rev. Jacklevyn F. Manuputty, chairman of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI); Rudiantara, a senior figure in the Indonesian Mosque Council; the Rev. Nitis Putrasana Harsono of the Protestant Church in Western Indonesia (GPIB); and Komaruddin Hidayat, chairman of the Indonesian Press Council.

Speaking after the meeting, the Rev. Manuputty stressed the need to reaffirm religion’s fundamental purpose as a force for reconciliation rather than division.

“Religion must be restored to its noble calling as an agent of peace, not a tool to justify violence,” he said, adding that invoking God in human conflicts distorts the ethical foundations shared by all faiths.

The controversy traces back to a March 5 lecture in which Mr. Kalla discussed Indonesia’s diplomatic strategies in navigating potential regional conflicts. Drawing on his experience mediating sectarian violence in Poso and Ambon in the early 2000s, he described how religious identity had at times been manipulated to legitimize violence.

The edited clip, which began circulating in mid-April, stripped away much of that context, prompting public backlash and even a police complaint from a youth Christian organization.

Mr. Kalla, long regarded as a key architect of Indonesia’s peace agreements in Malino in 2001 and 2002, has since clarified that his remarks were intended to highlight the dangers of historical misinterpretation and to prevent future escalation of conflict.

Religious leaders who attended Thursday’s meeting urged the public to engage with the full recording of the lecture before forming judgments. They also called for greater media literacy, warning that fragmented information in the digital age can deepen social divisions.

Scholars and conflict studies institutions, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the International Crisis Group, have previously documented how sectarian tensions in regions like Poso and Ambon were often fueled by the politicization of religious identity — lending broader context to Mr. Kalla’s remarks.

Thursday’s meeting, participants said, was less about defending an individual than about reaffirming a shared commitment to interfaith dialogue and national cohesion at a time of heightened sensitivity around religious issues. []