Many would say that the politicized accusations of blasphemy against former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama were the deciding factor in Anies Baswedan’s victory in this year’s gubernatorial election. Since he was inaugurated last month, Anies has talked about overturning many of Ahok’s policies that Islamic hardliners complained were discriminatory against Muslims, such as a ban on the sale and slaughter of sacrificial animals on the streets and a regulation preventing religious activities from taking place at the National Monument (Monas).
Speaking about Anies’ plans to overturn the ban on religious activities at Monas, Said Aquil Siradj, the general chairman of Indonesia’s and the world’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, warned the governor to not change the law simply for political purposes.
“If it has a political background or targets, that is what I am talking about. Religion should not be used as a political tool,” Said said yesterday as quoted by Merdeka.
The highly respected scholar said that if Anies executed the policy purely to score political points, then that could be considered a blasphemous act.
“Religion used for the sake of politics is an insult to religion itself, an insult to the glory of religion,” Said said.
However, the NU chairman said that he would support Anies overturning the regulation set up by his predecessor if it was sincerely meant for religious purposes, and was done not just in the interests of one religion but gave all faiths equal treatment.
Ahok’s ban on religious activities at Monas, passed in 2015, simply solidified previous governmental decrees from 1994 and 2004 prohibiting religious, commercial and political events from taking place at the symbolic site.
On December 2, 2016, a massive hardliner-organized protest against Ahok involving over 200,000 people took place in Monas after police allowed them to perform prayers inside the national monument’s park due to concerns that the protesters might cause chaos if they were kept on the streets.
After Anies failed to attend the anniversary event for another anti-Ahok on November 2, Eggy Sudjana, lawyer to infamous Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, lamented, “Do not let it be that the when the Muslims who supported him sincerely need his presence, he does not come. It means he was just using us.”
