Demak, NU Online
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here Saturday (14/10) repeated his exhortation to the Indonesian people to wage `"Jihad" (holy war) against poverty, unemployment and  backwardness so as to become a dignified member of the world community.

He said the main task of  Indonesian Muslims was to overcome  the three problems which were the main enemies of Muslims, the President said after performing evening prayers in a Demak mosque, Central Java, Friday evening.

<>"It’s time for  Muslims to conduct jihad against poverty, unemployment and backwardness. This is perpetual jihad because by reducing poverty, the unemployment rate and backwardness, we will become a noble and dignified nation in the world, " Yudhoyono said.

As reported by the national news agency Antara, the President urged `ulema’ (Muslim scholars) to step up  their role in advising Muslims and boosting efforts to make Islam  a religion of compassion to all Indonesian people.

The head of state also asked businessmen to work hard to help improve the people’s economic conditions through improvement of the real sector,  housing in particular. 

Yudhoyono instructed all local administration authorities to develop food resilience particularly where basic foods  such as rice, sugar, maize and meat were concerned, so that the regions would have enough supplies and not need to import those goods from other countries.

He said  Demak was as a good example of how a region could become self-sufficient in food  thanks to its successful agricultural development.

"Demak produces 330,000 tons of rice annually, while its demand is only 120,000 tons annually, so it has a rice production surplus," he said. (dar)