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Dec. 2 rally no cause for concern, say police chief
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Religious approach: Hundreds of police personnel wearing white gather at the National Monument complex in Jakarta on Nov. 2 for a briefing ahead of a large-scale rally on Nov. 4 in the capital. (Antara Photo/Rivan Awal Lingga)
N
ational Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian is calling on Greater Jakarta residents to not be alarmed about a planned large-scale rally on Dec. 2 to demand that Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama be arrested for alleged blasphemy, explaining that law enforcers and protesters had sworn to promote a peaceful rally.
"Residents don't have to be scared or worried because the organizers of the rally have promised to carry out [the rally] in the form of peaceful religious activities," Tito said Monday after meeting with leaders of numerous Muslim organizations at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) headquarters in Central Jakarta.
The rally, initiated by the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), will include dzikir (chanting), tausiyah (preaching) and Friday prayers at the National Monument Park in Central Jakarta on Dec. 2 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The rally will be a follow up to the Nov. 4 rally, during which more than 100,000 people flocked downtown to demand the prosecution of Ahok on allegations of blasphemy. The rally started in a peaceful manner but ended up in violence in the evening.
Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, sparked uproar among Islamic groups and communities after he made a comment on a verse in the Quran during a visit to Thousand Islands regency in late September.
Tito also suggested that organizers of other protests on Friday postpone their rallies.
"We don't want to see any disturbance of the holiness of the prayer. We, for example, don't want to see protesters in a labor rally scream among people carrying out dzikir," he said. (hwa)
