Semarang, NU Online
The country’s biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has urged the government to sanction groups or organizations that consider Pancasila kufr (infidel) ideology and do not respect state symbols.<>

The NU argued that thinking about Pancasila this way was the same as considering all Indonesians to be infidels. The move was made during the NU’s recent Central Java regional conference held in Gunungpati, Semarang.

Central Java NU Rois Syuriah (supreme council chairman), Ubaidillah Shodaqoh, said recently that the forum discussed three main subjects: the law regarding respecting state symbols, the consideration of Pancasila as infidel ideology and what the government needed to do about these two issues.

The forum agreed that respecting state symbols such as standing up while singing the national anthem was compulsory for all citizens.

Ubaidillah said that the origin of the law for respecting state symbols is allowed according to the Islamic law. "As it has been made into a law, it’s compulsory to respect so," he said.

A member of the supreme council, A'wani, said the respect of state symbols, including flags, was a manifestation of love for the nation and did not constitute worship. In this case, he added, sanctions were necessary to address these "anti-Pancasila" groups.

“If the groups disturb the principles of the state, then it’s obligatory for the government to fight them. It is categorized as treason,” he said.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq