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Indonesian Muslims' ignorance exposed, again
One major problem with the current collective imagination of Indonesian Muslims is blindness to the chain of violence.
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Blazing anger: A police truck burns during the rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta on Friday. After violence erupted near the State Palace, looting was reported in Penjaringan, an area in the vicinity of Ahok’s private home, and in Luar Batang, both in North Jakarta. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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akartans have decided. The majority of them picked Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno as governor and deputy governor of the capital city.
Anies and Sandiaga are overjoyed and their supporters are flaunting their victory on social media while telling supporters of incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat how wrong they are.
Prabowo Subianto, the man behind the nomination of Anies and Sandiaga and the losing contender in the 2014 presidential election, hailed the notorious Rizieq Shihab and his Islam Defenders Front (FPI) as “the saviors of democracy.”
What is “democracy” according to Prabowo and what exactly did the FPI “save” it from? These are questions that have conveniently been ignored.
People’s responses on social media vary, but the most common reactions among Muslims center around how Jakartans need to accept the outcome of the election, along with the usual admonitions to give the presumptive elected governor and deputy governor a chance to show their capacities in leading the capital, and suggestions for reconciliation between the supporters of both sides of the political divide.
Peaceful reconciliation is always good and expected, but “peaceful reconciliation” as a mask to ignore a vicious campaign against marginalized groups and Muslim Ahok supporters that were, and still are, deployed by Anies-Sandiaga supporters and their self-styled religious gatekeepers — the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) — simply has to be rejected.
Made Supriatma, a wellknown scholar and activist, elaborated on this topic very well in his latest article published by IndoProgress on why we should not forget about the cruelty of AniesSandiaga’s campaign against marginalized groups.
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