President Jokowi Welcomes Members of Hindu Students at Merdeka Palace

President Jokowi, accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung and Chief of the Indonesian Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo received a visit from the Executives of the Indonesian Hindu Students Association (PP KMHDI) at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday (08/08). (Source: BPMI Setpres/Lukas)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Tuesday (08/08) hosted members of the Indonesian Hindu Students Association (PP KMHDI) at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

During the visit, the students invited the President to attend the organization’s National Congress (Mahasabha XIII KMHDI), which will be held at the end of August this year in Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu.

“President Jokowi has expressed his willingness to attend. We just need to coordinate the technical details with the State Secretariat or the Cabinet Secretariat,” said Chairperson of the association I Putu Yoga Saputra in his statement after the meeting.

On that occasion, the students also presented several ideas and concepts related to the development of Indonesia’s new capital of Nusantara (IKN), one of which is the Equator Canal, seen as a gateway connecting the Eastern Indonesian region to the new capital.

“So, the equator point, the equator line happens to pass through Sigi regency and becomes a gateway for the Eastern Indonesian region to IKN. The integration between IKN and the Eastern Indonesia region is centered there,” I Putu Yoga said.

In response to that, President Jokowi expressed appreciation for the ideas and concepts presented by the students that aim to assist the Government in addressing issues.

“President Jokowi was pleased that the younger generation not only criticize but also provide solutions as problem-solving approaches for several issues faced by the Government. This is our duty as academics and as intellectuals to convey these ideas,” stated I Putu Yoga.

The students also said they discussed Regulation of Minister of Religious Affairs on “Pasraman” or a special Hindu religious education institution and requested the Government to change the status of this educational institution to a formal one, thereby obtaining official recognition and standardization from the state.

“Because there have been issues in which our younger generation studying at Pasraman cannot proceed to the next level due to the status of the school. Therefore, we want it to be aligned and adjusted through the Ministerial Regulation,” I Putu Yoga remarked. (BPMI SETPRES/AIT) (AS/EP)