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Indonesia's mainstream needs to address radical threat

Blasphemy case against Christian governor of Jakarta is being used by hard-line opponents of the country's status quo
Indonesia's mainstream needs to address radical threat

Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (center) is escorted by anti-terror police as he leaves the North Jakarta Court on Dec. 20 where he was fighting allegations of insulting the Quran that could see him jailed under tough blasphemy laws in the world's largest Muslim-majority country. (Photo by AFP)

Published: December 21, 2016 04:27 AM GMT
Updated: December 21, 2016 04:29 AM GMT

The blasphemy case against non-active Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has all the hallmarks of a Shakespearian tragedy. The case is not merely a question of whether he blasphemed against Islam; it represents an opportunity for opponents of the status quo, and particularly the proponents of the school of thought that Indonesia should be a nation ruled by shariah law.

Yet despite the massive Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 rallies in Central Jakarta demonstrating virulent support for the governor's arrest, the movement against him remains a minority. There is far less evidence of support for this latest chapter in the long historical campaign to force Indonesia to become an Islamic state.

Like so many other attempts in the past, this too seems doomed for failure. But if the silent majority continues to support Indonesia's underpinnings as a state based on the ideology of Pancasila (the country's founding principles) and the slogan "Unity in Diversity", it is time for both the silent majority and the authorities to decide that it is time to draw a line.

A failure to do so would risk seeing the radical minority continue to chip away at the foundations of the state.

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall," said Shakespeare in Measure for Measure. Definitions of sin and virtue are subjective, but Shakespeare, with his tragedies filled with intrigue and double-dealing, would have been right at home with the case of the non-active Jakarta Governor Purnama, commonly known as Ahok, now underway at the North Jakarta District Court.

If the bard was writing the Purnama case, he might frame it as follows: A prince of Italy relies on his trusted aide the Moor, who balances the books, political and financial, and generally gets things done as governor of the capital. The Moor, however, complains loudly in the public square that the Inquisition is out of control and is being used against him.

The Catholic Church, struggling to gain a foothold in the principality where older ideas of Roman justice prevail, senses an opportunity. It attacks the Moor for speaking out on an issue beyond his province, demanding that he be expelled from Christian lands.

The nobles of the court, also sensing opportunity, connive to overthrow the Moor in order that they can move closer to the prince to support their own interests. Rival princes meddle, recognizing opportunity in a scandal that impacts the prince. The Moor is condemned to the very court of the Inquisition that he so foolishly spoke out against.

Purnama's case is not, then, merely a question of whether he blasphemed against Islam. It is a political opportunity for opponents of the status quo, and particularly the proponents of the school of thought that Indonesia should be a nation ruled by shariah law.

What got the governor into trouble was a speech in Thousand Islands regency late in September in which he stated that "you don't have to vote for me — because you've been lied to by those using (the Quran's) Surah al-Maidah verse 51." A brief video clip of the statement — with the word "using" deleted — was posted on YouTube, setting off the storm demanding his prosecution.

In the court of public opinion, Purnama has already been found guilty. While many have accepted his numerous apologies for having dragged religion into the issue of his re-election campaign, a survey commissioned by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) found last week that 45.2 percent of respondents still regarded Purnama's remarks as blasphemous. That despite only 11.5 percent of respondents stating that they clearly understood what he had said.

The lack of knowledge demonstrated by the respondents to that poll has been amply countered by the Islamic hard-line, who have pounced on the statement as evidence that Purnama is not fit to serve as governor of the Muslim-majority city.

In essence, Purnama's defense is likely to rest on the word "using." His lawyers are expected to argue that Purnama was not in any way blaspheming about the Quran, merely stating that the verse in question was being used by certain elements to erode support for his re-election.

Many Muslims believe that even this was out of line. While many believe that his apology should be accepted, they argue that the suggestion that the Quran could be used as a political tool is in itself blasphemous. And the record of blasphemy trials in Indonesia is such that acquittal is extremely unlikely.

So if Purnama is the Moor, who are the others trying to take political advantage of the situation? Foremost among them, of course, is the hard-line Muslim movement that wants to see Indonesia become an Islamic state.

It is ironic that the charge is being led by a man regarded by many as little more than a thug, Habib Rizieq Shihab, head of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The organization is best known for its violent attacks on moderates and for its habit of trashing bars and other places of "immorality" in what is often seen as a tactic used as part of its protection racket.

Shihab is a convenient front man for other elements grouped under the National Movement to Guard the MUI Fatwa (GNPF-MUI).

Indonesia's tradition of tolerant religion has also lost much. Nahdlatul Ulama and other traditionalist religious groupings are appalled by the increased public profile of their enemies in the hard-line movement. For years such groups have been concerned by the creeping influence of the Wahhabi movement in Indonesia, as represented by Shihab and his colleagues.

As for the silent majority who reject the Islamist agenda, one attempt to galvanize them into action failed miserably on Dec. 4, when a few thousand who gathered at Jakarta's National Monument did little but leave an awful mess in their wake. The danger to Indonesia's traditional system of government is that the silent majority will remain silent, while allowing hard-liners to chip away at the foundations of Indonesia's government and society.

The authorities also have to do more than just stand by, as they so clearly did during the Yudhoyono presidency. In a positive sign, President Joko Widodo has now signed a government regulation that provides technical guidelines related to Law No. 17/2013 on Mass Organizations.

What is needed now is a clear statement from the government and the security apparatus that it will not tolerate the aggressive attack on mainstream Indonesian values. Many believe such action is sorely overdue. While few would welcome a revival of the constraints that Suharto's New Order regime imposed on society, action is needed to demonstrate that the country cannot be hijacked by what in reality is a small, if noisy, minority.

 

Keith Loveard is the senior analyst and editor for the Jakarta-based risk consultants Concord Consulting. This piece was edited for length.

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