(published by The Jakarta Post on 6 Jan 2010. Click here ) The Indonesian people have lost a great man in Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, but the minorities groups feel it much more. Indonesians owe a lot to Gus Dur, but whoever loves democracy, pluralism and equality in this country owes much more. Some people mocked him for his physical disability, as he was almost totally blind for the last decades of his life, but what he did and thought was actually more precious than anything those with 20/20 vision could ever see. For the minorities, the blind man did more than anyone else. Although his physical health was being gnawed away at by illness, he became a true voice for the voiceless, and he never stopped until the end. He spoke about religious tolerance, democracy, human and minority rights – topics that other people preferred to keep silent about. He countered Islamic radicalism and at the same time promoted a peaceful Islam to the world. In his column “ Tuhan Tidak Perlu Dibela ” (Go...
Life is beautiful, and also..., simple.