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| Southeast Asia |
| 200,000 Indonesian Muslims protest against Christian governor |
| 2016-12-04 |
| [YAHOO] More than 200,000 Indonesian Moslems prayed in unison and chanted Koranic verses Friday in the second major demonstration against Jakarta's Christian governor, as conservative groups push for his arrest for allegedly insulting Islam. People in white Islamic robes and skullcaps packed out a massive park in the capital, with over 20,000 security personnel deployed to prevent a repeat of violence that erupted at the last protest against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, is being prosecuted for blasphemy over election campaign comments he made about the Koran, which have sparked widespread anger in the world's most populous Moslem-majority country. The case is seen in part as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia, where a reputation for pluralism has been eroded by a surge in attacks on minorities, but critics say it is also about politics as the governor's foes whip up anger to reduce his support. The decision to prosecute Purnama, Jakarta's first non-Moslem governor for half a century and a member of the country's tiny ethnic Chinese minority, has not been enough to quell anger and conservative groups are now demanding his arrest. Protesters waved banners that read "jail Ahok" as they marched en masse through the city's streets in the early hours to converge on the park, which surrounds the National Monument, a tall tower that looms over downtown Jakarta. "Let's defend our religion," Rizieq Shihab, leader of hardline group the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), told the crowd as he delivered a fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... sermon. "Stop all forms of religious blasphemy and put all violators on trial." President Joko Widodo, an ally of Purnama who has been meeting with Islamic and politicians in recent days to calm tensions, joined the mass prayer, thanking the protesters for being peaceful and urging them to return home. Jakarta police front man Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said more than 200,000 joined Friday's rally, dwarfing the last protest on November 4. He said it had passed off peacefully and protesters were starting to head home. |
| Posted by:Fred |