One million candles for Gus Dur, tonight

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 01/02/2010 9:44 AM  |  National

Members of several organizations plan to light 1 million candles in a number of cities across Indonesia on Saturday night, in recognition of the recent death of former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, tempointeraktif.com reports.

The “1 Million Candles for Gus Dur” event, organized by the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), will in cities including Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Ambon.

In Jakarta, candles will be lit at the Proclamation Monument, and will include inter-faith prayers, testimonies and speeches.

“With this event, we want to reiterate that Gus Dur is our inter-faith hero,” ICRP executive director Anick Tohari said. “This event is a tribute to Gus Dur.”

Gus Dur passed away at Ciptomangunkusumo hospital in Jakarta on Wednesday evening. He was 69 years of age.