Abdurrahman (Gus Dur) Wahid

Dec 31st, 2009, in News & Issues, by Patung

Former president Gus Dur, Abdurrahman Wahid, dies in Jakarta, funeral and burial held in Jombang.

Gus Dur died on 30th December 2009 at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Central Jakarta, at the age of 69, after years of health problems, particularly kidney complications.

His body was quickly taken to his hometown of Jombang, East Java, to be buried at the Tebu Ireng Islamic boarding school. He is to be buried near his grandfather, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) founder K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari.

Photos by Danu Primanto.

18 Comments on “Abdurrahman (Gus Dur) Wahid”

Ross Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 9:53 am
He was fundamentally a good bloke.
Burung Koel Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 10:17 am
.

(and had a great sense of humour)
ET Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 10:59 am
One more tolerant muslim less.
deta Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Gitu aja kok repot. (the famous quote)
madrotter Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
i started looking different at him after reading no regrets from wimar witoelar, if only gus dur could’ve remained president instead of the backstabbing out-for-self mega….

he really wanted to go after the suharto’s, the wiranto’s etc…

this is a great loss….

good time to start reading his biography by greg barton….
sputjam Says:
December 31st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
After having disposed of suharto, followed by riots and economic instability, indonesian chose someone who is partly blind to lead the nation from darkness and gloom, into the light and hope.
Sweely Says:
January 1st, 2010 at 4:37 am
Rest in peace. May allah be with you.
Astrajingga Says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:20 am
He is one of the best president Indonesia have ever had.
To be honest, there’re only two good Indonesian president. The other one is Soekarno.
Rob Baiton Says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:44 pm
It will be interesting to see how history deals with the Gus Dur presidency.

It was short, but it was eventful. And, ultimately it did nothing much to halt the march towards greater Islamization of some parts (if not all) of the Indonesian archipelago.

May he rest in peace.
madrotter Says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 11:07 pm
One thing I couldn’t stand was the whole brother/sister thing with Megawati, you could so see how she was maneuvering to stab him in the back, or those horrible speeches by the so-called father of reformasi amin rais…
diego Says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
I don’t know, everytime I see the picture of Amin Rais on the web, one thing that crosses my mind is: Sangkuni. Funny the way our mind works, associative.

http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangkuni

I don’t know if this character exists in the indian version of Mahabharata / Bharatayudha. But we in indonesia (esp. Java / Bali) know Sangkuni as a treacherous character.
bas Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:44 am
Gus Dur was the only living Indonesian man I admired (since Pram’s death).
By far the best president Indonesia ever had. His books are awesome.
That’s a huge loss for Indonesia. Rest in peace Gus. We’ll miss you.
Ross Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 4:58 pm
With regard to Rob’s and Bas’s comments, I tihnk history will probably not deal generously with Gus’s Presidency but will deal most kindly with him as a man.
That his heart was almost always in the right place is I think beyond dispute, not least proven by his role at Sang Timur, but he was just too old and infirm to get the country by the scruff of the neck.
Was it not the case that a traitorous military clique blatantly and with impunity defied their commander-in-chief when he ordered that the Laskar Jihad murder gangs be blocked from their Maluku killing spree? Have those officers ever been court-matialled?.
shorty Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:01 pm
what more needs to be said, what better testament………….

“All religions insist on peace. From this we might think that the religious struggle for peace is simple … but it is not. The deep problem is that people use religion wrongly in pursuit of victory and triumph. This sad fact then leads to conflict with people who have different beliefs.”

Abdurrahman Wahid – 1940 – 2009
shorty Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:21 pm
ps. for those citical of Gus Dor ( or anyone else for that matter) be honest and ask ‘what would i have done?’. make your judgement/comment on this answer.
banimustajab Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:15 pm
he consistent with the principle
eshape Says:
January 8th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Good Rest Gus Dur
Odinius Says:
January 13th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Great as a moral figure; terrible as leader of the country.

Like Boris Yeltsin, but with less alcohol.