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Jakarta Post

Groups claim today’s rally is for Rohingyas, not anti-Ahok

Agnes Anya, Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, and Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, November 25, 2016

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Groups claim today’s rally is for Rohingyas, not anti-Ahok Camped out: Members of the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) relax in tents inside the House of Representatives compound in Jakarta on Thursday. Security at the House complex has been heightened with another rally, organized by a number of civil society and labor groups, expected to take place on Friday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

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mid President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s intense political consolidation efforts, several conservative Islamic groups have made an about-face and now say their rally on Friday is a gesture of solidarity with Rohingya refugees in Myanmar.

Various Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Students Association (HMI) and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), initially planned to hold a demonstration on Friday as a follow-up to the Nov. 4 rally, held to demand Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama be prosecuted for alleged blasphemy.

However, on Thursday, the organizations denied that the planned demonstration was related to the ongoing blasphemy case.

Instead, it is a show of solidarity by Indonesian Muslims with the Rohingya people in Myanmar, who are facing violence from their government, said former HMI member Muhammad Syukur Mandar.

“The demonstration tomorrow is held to protest the violence and killing of Rohingya Muslims. This is the standpoint we want to express,” said Syukur, who is also the association’s lawyer.

During the demonstration, the protesters will demand the Myanmar government stop attacks on Rohingyas and urge the United Nations and Indonesian government to intervene by providing shelters for Rohingyas.

He said the protesters would gather in front of the Myanmar Embassy on Jl. Haji Agus Salim, Gondangdia, Menteng, at 10 a.m. before marching to the UN office on Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta.

He added that 2,000 to 3,000 people from various organizations were expected to participate in the rally.

“There will be around 300 to 400 people from the HMI,” he said, adding that it was unlikely the protesters would deliver their demands to the House of Representatives as previously reported.

Syukur said protesters would end the rally by erecting a Rohingya solidarity post, at which people could register to volunteer for humanitarian work assisting Rohingya refugees or to donate aid.

In response to rumors about the Nov. 25 anti-Ahok rally, the Jakarta Police and other provincial police departments have prepared to deploy between 8,700 and 13,050 personnel, in addition to 36 riot squad units.

Nonetheless, by late Thursday afternoon, the police confirmed that they had not yet received a notification letter regarding anti-Ahok or Rohingya solidarity rallies for Friday, said Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono.

“We will send it to the police in the evening,” Syukur said, adding that the police should not prohibit them from holding a rally given that Indonesia was a democratic country.

Syukur confirmed the organizations would hold another demonstration against Ahok on Dec. 2, claiming that the protest would be even larger than the Nov. 4 demonstration.

More than 100,000 people took part in the Nov. 4 rally to demand the police charge Ahok with blasphemy.

Jokowi made political moves to ease tension before the protest, which started peacefully but ended with riots. He even visited Prabowo Subianto, his former rival in the 2014 presidential election and leader of the opposition camp, to ask him to also call on political groups to respect the ongoing legal process.

Last Monday, the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) announced they had received information that some parties would try to take control of the House of Representatives during the Nov. 25 demonstration.

 

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