Taking down khilafah banners, Banser told to cooordinate with authorities

Jakarta, NU Online
The youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Ansor Youth Movement and its Barisan Ansor Serbaguna (Banser)  should become the frontline in fortifying and defending the Homeland from any threat posed by anti-Pancasila groups and the like.

Secretary of the Advisory Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Luqman Harist Dimyathi made the remarks at a meeting to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of Ansor in Pacitan, East Java, on Wednesday (27/4).

Luqman was deeply concerned about a wide range of threats especially posed by radicals and extremists for increasingly willing to  undermine the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia, saying it could be seen from rampant posters or banners containing a call to uphold the Islamic state (khilafah) in the country.

The leader of Tremas Islamic boarding school (Pesantren) said, if there were really posters or banners that ulhold a caliphate state in Pacitan, Ansor and Banser would be urged to take them down. But all this should firstly be coordinated with the state authorities, namely the police and the military (TNI).

"Ansor and Banser may not act without a command. All must be in accordance with it, never act in your own ways. And it should also be coomunicated with the state authorities,"he said, adding that this was in accordance with the instruction of the Chairman of Ansor Youth Movement Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

According to Luqman, Taking down banners depicting the symbols of khilafah is one of the efforts to uphold the truth and does not violate the Constitution. Because when the banners are kept flying up, it will be very dangerous for the Indonesian integrity.

"We are not arrogant, the arrogant is those who hang the (khilafah-propagating) banners. Is this country theirs?" he asked.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Ansor Pacitan Khoirul Anam expected advice and guidance from the NU elders to be able to run the organization well. According to him, the advice given will be useful to improve the capacity and the performance of Ansor management in the future.

"We ask your blessing, guidance and motivation. Hopefully we can carry out the mandate given to us, to continue the ulema (Muslim scholars) struggle," he said.

The meeting was also attended by members of Banser, supreme leader (Mustasyar) of NU Pacitan KH Umar Shahid, Chairman of Adnisory Board (Rais Syuriyah) NU Pacitan KH Faqih Sujak, Secretary of NU Pacitan M Nurul Huda, and chairmen and chairwomen of youth organizations. (Masdar)