The huge rally by thousands of Muslims against the Christian frontrunner, incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, last Friday may genuinely reflect Muslims’ anger about the governor’s alleged blasphemy, but it is hard to ignore the impression that the Agus and Anies camps have exploited the rising religious sentiment against Ahok to win the election.

Anies boasted a day after registering his candidacy that he would turn the election into “a festival of ideas”, a rather corny, but sufficiently encouraging phrase only the eloquent former education and culture minister could pull off. But the candidate has said and done too little to help prevent the election from turning into what it is today: an orgy of hatred and bigotry.

His silence about the sectarian attacks on his rival, Ahok, is inexcusable. The incumbent’s safety could be under serious threat amid angry vitriol by hard-line Muslims calling for his murder. The threat may have significantly restricted his movements, hence putting the fairness of the election into serious question, as the situation has clearly disadvantaged him.

To be fair, Ahok is not completely blameless in this brouhaha. His statement about an abstruse Quranic verse that has long been a bone of contention among Muslim scholars, even progressive ones, is regrettable. The radicals, for sure, will not let this go easily.

His ruthless eviction policy has fueled resentment among the grassroots, who, as some observers have argued, may decide to channel their anger through radical Islamic groups in the glaring absence of support from top Muslim intellectuals and moderate clerics who are supposed to help and comfort them.

But all that cannot justify the use of sectarianism in the election.

Anies, who was listed among the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy in 2008, should have known that the Blasphemy Law is a threat to democracy due to its draconian nature. Whether or not Ahok’s statement in Thousand Islands regency in September can be considered sacrilege, pushing a legal prosecution against him for a slip of the tongue is preposterous. Ahok has said he did not intend to insult the Quran.

Radical Sunni-Muslim groups have repeatedly used the blasphemy law to rile up the masses to press the government to persecute minority groups like the Ahmadis and the Shias. The use of the archaic law to undermine a gubernatorial candidate in an election would be a new low for Indonesia’s pluralism.

Furthermore, Ahok should have the equal rights as other candidates to have his safety guaranteed on the campaign trail. All parties involved in the election, including Ahok’s rivals, should take part in ensuring that the election is fair, by strongly denouncing attacks on Ahok and encouraging voters to refrain from engaging in violence in expressing their anger at the governor.

The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) and the Jakarta Police may also need to take additional measures to warrant his security.

It is true that Anies and Agus might only be facades of a larger political game controlled by powerful elites.

In a speech he delivered hours after the Nov. 4 rally, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a close ally of the embattled governor, accused his political rivals of “free-riding” the peaceful rally that eventually turned violent.

The President did not name names, but many alleged he was referring to opposition leader Prabowo Subianto, who backs Anies, and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agus’ father, who had strongly denied allegations he had orchestrated and funded Friday’s rally before it took place.

While it is reasonable to suggest Agus and Anies may have little say in devising their respective election strategy, the two young leaders, regardless of their clout on the nation’s political landscape, are the ones running for governor. Their leadership qualities will be judged by how they compete in the election, particularly the way they respond to the sectarian attacks on Ahok.

And if they are using the Jakarta election as a springboard to get to the State Palace, as Jokowi did, their actions will say a lot about the country’s future.

In a previous US election, the former rival of President Barack Obama, John McCain, confronted his supporters who falsely suggested that Obama was a Muslim and considered him unfit to become president.

The Republican politician, who has been involved in a slew of scandals and is not without his flaws, showed statesmanship that any dignified election contender should possess.

One may find it is naïve, if not outright unrealistic to give Anies and Agus the benefit of the doubt that they were not involved in fomenting religious sentiment against Ahok. But this election is bigger than Ahok, Anies, Agus and their respective patrons — this is about the fate of our democracy.

We should hope Anies and Agus can be like McCain: They must stand up for Ahok and play their part in ensuring the gubernatorial election is fair to everyone, including their strongest rival. They have to be able to convince Jakarta’s voters that if they win the election, they did it fair and square.

We cannot afford to let bigotry be the real winner.

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The author is a staff writer with The Jakarta Post

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