REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) politician, Arteria Dahlan apologized over her harsh words during a meeting between Commission III House of Representatives and the Ministry of Religious Affairs discussing umrah scams cases on Wednesday (March 28). She said the words was not addressed to Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin and the ministry.
"Once again, if anyone is offended by the harsh words, I apologize," she said at Parliament complex in Jakarta, on Thursday (March 29).
Arteria said she was talking about persons in the ministry allegedly cheating. They failed to prevent operation of the troubled umrah travel agencies.
She felt disappointed to the ministry's performance. Therefore she assesed there should be an agreement between Attorney General and Ministry of Religious Affairs that could prevent such cases. "I said, if the model of the game is like that, then the "bastards" in the Ministry of Religious Affairs will be untouchable. I did not mean that the minister is a bastard, no," she explained.
Arteria felt proud of what she did. She would not halt any effort to report her to the House's Honorary Council (MKD). "It was an honor for me to get whatever risk is. As long as I did it to defend the people's right, I felt proud to take the consequences for my action," she remarked.
According to Chairman of Da'wah Commission of Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), KH Cholil Nafis, harsh word should not be uttered by member of the House, even if to criticize. House members should gave a good example to the people.
Kiai Cholil said in the dictionary, the meaning of "bangsat" (bastard) are all negatives, namely bedbugs and people with bad attitude, especially those who like to steal, pickpocket, and so on.
"Calling someone with the harsh word will surely hurt the sense of Indonesian feelings, especially with our Eastern customs. If repeated, it will make the people loose respect to their representatives ," he remarked.
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