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Muslim groups push for law revision
Muslim intellectuals are urging lawmakers at the House of Representatives to take steps to revise the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law
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Muslim intellectuals are urging lawmakers at the House of Representatives to take steps to revise the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law.
“The ball is in the legislators’ court now,” prominent Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra from the State Islamic University of Jakarta told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
“Several articles in the law need to be revised in order to ensure religious tolerance,” he added.
The Constitutional Court recently turned down a judicial review of the law, filed by a group of NGOs and high-profile pluralist figures, including late former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
The court ruled the law was constitutional, but not without highlighting the fact that it was “imperfect” and needed revision. The court chief Mahfud M.D. said law revisions fell under the authority of the House.
Progressive Muslim cleric Siti Musdah Mulia said the revision should start with clearly defining and explaining what constitutes a blasphemous acts.
“The new definition should reflect the mandates of the constitution; that the state guarantees the right of each citizen to follow the religions that they choose,” she added.
Dawam Rahardjo, a noted Muslim activist, shared his opinion. He said different interpretations of religious teachings should not be categorized as blasphemy.
“You cannot criminalize [people] for what they believe in. It is a violation of human rights and is against the constitution.”
He added the expected revision should also clearly define deviation.
According to him, people or religious groups can be deemed deviant from the core teachings of religion if their rites violate decency norms.
“Deviation is also when their teachings preach violence or the use of narcotics,” he said, adding that terrorism can therefore be categorized as a deviation of religion.
Musdah and Dawam were among the petitioners of the judicial review request with the Constitutional Court.
They argued the law was discriminatory against minority religious groups and had been used to force the followers of the Ahmadiyah sect to seek refuge after enduring violence in a number of communities.
They also criticized the law for stipulating criminal charges against people who are deemed blasphemous or heretic.
Azra said, “Now that the court has decided to uphold the law, what we can do is to ensure fair trials for them.”
Judges, he added, had to be given guidance on what constitutes a blasphemous or heretical act.
“This is even more important considering many of our judges are conservative [in their ways of thinking],” he added.
Azra said he believed there were legislators at the House who share concerns for religious tolerance and maintaining the country’s pluralism.
“We should start with them,” he said, adding the Religious Affairs Ministry could not be relied on to initiate the expected revision.
The ministry was publicly against the attempt to request the judicial review of the law.
Musdah said efforts should be made to raise public awareness on the blasphemy law and how it carries fundamental problems.
“A lot of legal practitioners have not yet read the law, let alone the public in general,” she added.
She maintained her argument that the 45-year-old law was no longer needed.
“I think the Criminal Code is enough to regulate what the blasphemy law aims to regulate,” she said.
