Word: wahid
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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After Abdurrahman Wahid, the first democratically elected President of Indonesia, died on Dec. 30 at age 69, thousands of people lined the roads as his body was driven to the cemetery. Some held signs saying farewell, gus dur - his affectionate nickname. Many wept openly...
...Wahid was not a manager; he was forced from office by Parliament after less than two years. But he was a visionary, and as President, he planted a vision of an Indonesia - the country with the world's fourth largest population and the most Muslims - committed to religious freedom and human rights...
Even more important, as the spiritual leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's biggest Muslim organization, Wahid fought against the fanatics who he said "pervert Islam into a dogma of intolerance, hatred and bloodshed." He could quote the Koran by heart as he defended the right of all people to follow their conscience in matters of religion, and he constantly spoke up for persecuted minorities, even at the risk of his own popularity. He said he wanted his tomb to read here lies a humanist. That he was. He was beloved by millions, Muslims and non-Muslims alike...