Padri— War of Words
THE Padri War has long been associated with Tuanku Imam Bonjol’s resistance against Dutch rule in the land of the Minangkabau. Recently a controversial book showing the dark side of Bonjol was republished in Yogyakarta. The book, Tuanku Rao, triggered a counter-publication, Greget Tuanku Rao.
Both books recognize Padri as a Wahabi movement against cultural Islam in the lands of the Minangkabau and Batak. The violent movement, which sought to purify Islam, claimed thousands of lives. Bonjol allegedly condoned the atrocities. There have been calls for Bonjol to be stripped of his title as a National Hero. Are the allegations true? Tempo looks into the controversy and the actors behind the radical movement.
October 16, 2007
This petition calls on the Indonesian government to strip Tuanku Imam Bonjol of his title as National Independence Fighter. Imam Bonjol led the Wahabi Padri Movement, a movement in the same league with the Taleban and Al Qaeda. Its invasion of the Batak land claimed millions of lives.
The online petition was written by Mudy Situmorang, an electrical graduate of the November 10 Institute of Technology. Born in Simanindo, Pulau Samosir, in norther
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