WHEN he passed away on July 11 at the age of 88, many did not know Dr KH Idham Chalid. Since 1982, Idham had left Indonesia’s political arena. Moreover, after suffering from a long illness for 12 years, many of the younger generation had not even heard of him.

But the older generation is very familiar with Idham. He was known as an accommodative figure who, leading Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), had never run foul of the power holder. He was Chairman