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Dec. 2 rally no longer relevant: Muslim intellectual
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Blasphemy protest – Thousands of protesters pack the House of Representatives building in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 4 to protest incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s remarks of alleged blasphemy. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
A
nother mass rally planned for Dec. 2 to protest Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's alleged blasphemy has lost its valid ground after the police named Ahok a suspect in the case, a Muslim intellectual has argued.
"The planned Dec. 2 rally is no longer relevant," Zuhairi Misrawi, a young Muslim intellectual at the Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization, said after a discussion in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.
Zuhairi further said the planned rally could potentially jeopardize the nation's security and stability, especially amid increasing political tension happening in the capital ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
"[We should] settle the issue through the legal process. Just wait for the court [to make a decision]," he said.
On Nov. 4, around 100,000 people gathered on the streets to voice their demand that Ahok be named a suspect as soon as possible.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and some representatives from the State Palace met with rally representatives, telling them that the legal process was ongoing.
The police eventually named Ahok a suspect in the blasphemy case last Wednesday. The group that organized the Nov. 4 rally said recently that it had planned another mass rally on Dec. 2 because the police "had not arrested Ahok". (evi)
