TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Pianist Ananda Sukarlan walked out of an event celebrating Kolese Kanisius’ 90th anniversary attended by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

Anies Baswedan was invited by the organizing committee in his capacity as the governor. He was also given an opportunity to deliver a speech. Anies said that he received a warm welcome from the invitees, including Romo Baskoro, an education expert from Kanisius.

“I’m not new to my friends at Kanisius,” he said. “And it’s not my first visit here either.”

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To celebrate Kolese Kanisius’ 90th anniversary, the organizing committee gave awards to five of its accomplished alumni: Ananda Sukarlan (composer and pianist), Derianto Kusuma (founder of Traveloka), Romo Magnis Suseno (Jesuit leader), Irwan Ismaun Soenggono (Boy Scout official) and Dr. Boenjamin Setiawan (founder of Kalbe Farma).

Ananda walked out of the event in protest of the organizing committee’s decision to invite Anies. He said that the Jakarta Governor does not belong to the Kanisius community.

“Why invite an individual who holds values that contradicts those taught in Kanisius?” he told Tempo in a phone interview today.

Ananda said he learned about pluralism in Kanisius. He believed that the world will become a better place if people respect differences.

“Differences help us unite,” he said, adding that Anies is a political figure who has opposing values.

Read: 3 Reasons Why Anies Baswedan Should`ve Avoided Mentioning Pribumi

Ananda said that during the 2017 Jakarta election, Anies was not bothered by religious and racial sentiment. After being elected governor, he even mentioned the controversial term “native” in his inaugural speech.

“I’m not talking about politics, it’s about conscience and humanity,” he noted.

M. YUSUF MANURUNG