NU students affirm anti-smoking commitment

Jakarta, NU Online
Scores of NU students throughout Jakarta affirmed their commitment not to smoking. They were also committed to realize what called as no smoking zone in schools.

The students declared their anti-smoking commitment at a meeting taking up issues in regard with a controversial fatwa (edict) forbidding smoking in the perspective of students at the headquarters of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) on Wednesday (18/2).<>

The meeting was held by the Nahdlatul Ulama Students Association (IPNU) in collaboration with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the National Commission for Tobacco Control, the National Commission for Child Protection, and the Indonesian Heart Foundation (YJI).

In the meeting, deputy secretary of the Fatwa Commission of the MUI, Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh explained the MUI had agreed to ban children including students from smoking.

Asrorun Ni'am said the edict was due to the fact that "the dangers of smoking to students might be greater".

"Banning children from smoking is related to such efforts of protecting generation in which within the Islamic law it is called as hifdzun nasl," the lecturer at Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University said.

In addition, he added, in academic world there was possibly a relationship between smoking behaviour and the achievement of students.

"Brilliant and smart students tend not to smoke and those smoking tend to have poor achievement" he said.

At the same time Fuad Baradja of the National Commission for Tobacco Control explained in detail in terms of the negative impacts of smoking to people.

While chairman of IPNU Idy Muzayyad was of view his organization would follow up the forum by initiating anti-smoking movements across Indonesia.

"Our targeted basis is mainly students and santri who are very vulnerable to be victims of smoking ads from cigarette industries," he said. (rif)