Daily Times

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known as ‘Ahok,’ is the first ever Christian governor of Jakarta, Indonesia. Because of his strong stance against corruption, he is very popular among the masses. Ahok became the governor of Jakarta in 2014 and is contesting for the same position in February 2017 elections. Jakarta is the most prominent province of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. Ahok is the first ethnic Chinese Christian to hold governorship in five decades.

He started his political career as a member of the regional legislative council in East Belitung province. In the year 2009, he was elected as a member of the house of representative but resigned to compete for Jakarta governorship. In 2014, he became the first non-Muslim governor of Jakarta. The graph of his popularity remained high during his legal term of the governorship. Last year he announced, if elected, he would wish to continue his incumbency after the 2017 elections. His opponent tried to bring a candidate with consensus but failed, which ensured his success in the forthcoming elections. Three sets oaf candidates registered themselves at the Jakarta General Elections Commission. Among them are incumbent Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) — Djarot Saiful Hidayat, Anies Baswedan — Sandiaga Uno, and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono — Sylviana Murani. According to 2007 Election laws, the winner of the election needed to garner 50 percent of overall votes. The pre-poll surveys are upholding Ahok as the governor of Jakarta for the next term. He is often in the spotlight for his outspoken eloquence and steadfastness against corruption. He is popular for providing better public services to all citizens in the fields of health, education, and justice system of equality.

Wary of his popularity, Ahok’s opponents adopted to play with his faith. In their speeches, they reminded that it would be a sin if Muslims voted for a non-Muslim, citing verse 51 of Sura Almaidah, “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.” These Islamic clerics rendered the verse as do not take Jews and Christians as your leaders.

To counter this narrative, Ahok addressed a huge gathering at the end of September in Jakarta and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you don’t have to vote for me because you’ve been lied to [or fooled] with Surat Almaidah 51 [Sura 5:51] and the like. That’s your right. If you feel you can’t vote for me because you fear you’ll go to hell, because you’ve been lied to [or fooled], no worries. That’s your personal right. These programmes will go forward. So you don’t have to feel uncomfortable. Follow your conscience; you don’t have to vote for Ahok.” His speech went viral in October, and the content of his speech was considered a ‘blasphemy’ against Islam by the Clerics. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) filed a blasphemy case against Ahok. The organisation is urging people to come for protest in Jakarta’s streets though moderate Muslims are not listening to their calls.

During the last few decades, Saudi Arabia has had a massive influence on Indonesian Islamic Society, bringing unnecessary challenges to the pluralistic society. The present agitation against a Christian governor is an emerging example of the Islamisation in the country. Non-state actors are creating deep roots in society. One of the leaders of a fundamentalist group Majelis Mujahidin, said, “If Ahok does not get the punishment he deserves, not according to the demands of Muslims, then Muslims will get angrier. And when they get angrier, we don’t know what will happen.” Blasphemy is a criminal offence in the Indonesian constitution. The law was promulgated in 1965 by the then President Sukarno and his successor Suharto under Presidential order No.1/PNPS/1965 for the prevention of blasphemy and religious abuse. The blasphemy law 156A of the constitution prescribes a maximum five years jail for anyone who ‘utters feeling or commits acts intentionally that (a) contains enmity, misappropriation, or defamation of a religion, and (b) has the intention to prevent others from adhering to any religion that is based on belief in one God’.

Over 200,000 fundamentalists are protesting against the Christian Governor. A message posted on the social media by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham reads that “sentence Ahok or we will sentence him with bullets.” It is likely that he would be convicted under constitutional provision 156A. Indonesia’s moderate Muslim groups like Muhammadiyah and NU are silent albeit they remained supporters of Ahok. The protestors’ pressure is growing like a tsunami. This is the reason the president of Indonesia had to postpone his scheduled visit to Australia. However, the press conference by the head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, Gen. Ari Dono confirmed that the issue of the Christian governor should be ‘settled in an open trial.’ Now fundamentalists are demanding the arrest of the governor. Munarman, spokesperson of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) told the Jakarta Post, “Because Ahok still runs free, we have decided to stage another protest. Ahok should be jailed, it is the legal procedure. All suspects charged under Article 156 (a) of the Criminal Code in Indonesia’s history are always imprisoned.” The rising tension is a serious concern for the Indonesian government. The authorities are trying their best to calm down the situation. The Police Chief, Tito Karnavian said, “He has the information that the protesters could try to occupy the parliament building. This kind of action, if it is meant to occupy the parliament, then it is against the law and if it is meant to topple or overthrow the government, that’s treason.” At present, the country’s total population is exceeding 260 million. Christians being the largest minority make ten percent of the total population. Expressing his emotions, Ahok said, “I apologise to all Muslims and anyone who felt offended. It was not my intention to slight Islam or the Quran.”

A Human Rights Activist, Andreas Harsono, told to an International Newspaper that “he fears the country’s blasphemy laws have proved such an effective political tool that they will be used more frequently. I think by next February, Ahok will be detained. I do not think even the political forces that support Ahok can turn this round. I hope I am wrong.”

Since 1965, almost 200 blasphemy cases have been registered but no one was acquitted. It is, therefore, obvious that Ahok will face the music. In 2009, the liberals in the country tried to repeal blasphemy laws but remained unsuccessful. The case against the Christian governor is a clear example of political victimisation, which happens when political parties use support from fundamentalist and non-state actors. The darkest aspect of these scenarios is that blasphemy laws are used to settle political and social scores. Including Pakistan, the majority of modern and educated Muslims are held hostage by a very small number of fundamentalists. At the appointment of the Pak-Army Chief, a disinformation was being spread about the faith of the present army chief, which was absolutely fallacious. A discouraging statement came from the JI head, Moulana Siraj-ul-Haq that the nation was not unfortunate enough to accept a non-Muslim as head of any institution in Pakistan. Minorities are dead slow to respond to such situations, obviously because of their comprehensive subservience. This becomes the liability of literate Muslims to come to the front to counter anti-Islam narratives of the abuse of blasphemy laws whether it is Indonesia or Pakistan. Ahok may lose his political career, position and status due to the same.

The writer can be reached at Kaleem.dean@mail.com