REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Donald Trump is not an appropriate US presidential candidate, Hidayat Nur Wahid (HNW), an Islamic figure who is also a member of the advisory board of the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), stated here on Monday.
He made the statement in connection with the expulsion of a Muslim woman from Trump's campaign rally recently.
"This shows that Trump is not an appropriate candidate to become the US president," he affirmed.
He said that allowing to expel a Muslim woman from his campaign rally indicated that he does not support democratic, multicultural, and pluralistic values, and thus, he is not the right politician to lead the United States.
Wahid said what Trump's campaign team had done demonstrated that he was not even an appropriate presidential candidate in view of the fact that the United States is a plural community and has sound relations with Islamic nations.
"Hopefully, this will make Trump's supporters understand that they have, so far, been deceived," he pointed out.
The Police urged Rose Hamid, who was wearing a hijab during Trump's campaign rally in South Caroline on January 9, to leave. Hamid stood in silent protest against Trump who had accused Syrian refugees for being groomed by ISIS.
Earlier, Trump had threatened to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.
Bachtiar Nasir, the general secretary of the Indonesian Young Clerics and Intellectuals (MIUMI), stated that Trump's statement against Muslims might possibly be part of a mere sensational strategy to get a presidential ticket from his Republican Party.
"At the end, he will regret it as the issue will not be viewed in a positive light at the international level, although it was quite popular at home. It will only harm the United States later," he remarked.
Hidayat urged the police and religious organizations to sit together to encourage religious understanding, which is not linked to terrorism and is moderate.
"Hopefully, the police would also be moderate in its approach and would not take any action that would only harm its reputation," he emphasized.
Hidayat made the statement in connection with the News Story Insight broadcast by Metro TV at 3:55 p.m. local time on January 3 that showed a table listing several terrorist networks in Indonesia due to the presence of ISIS.
Wahdah Islamiyah with its general chairperson, Zaitun Rasmin, has been named in the list of terrorist networks.
In view of this, the leadership of the organization has sought a correction and an opportunity for Islamiyah to clarify the information that was broadcast in a live program.
Islamiyah has also urged the television station to broadcast an apology for three days in a row and has given Metro TV 48 hours to demonstrate its good will following the clarification.
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