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Police beef up security in Bogor mosque despite cancelled Islamic caliphate gathering
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Members of the Bogor Police stand guard in the Az-Zikra Mosque compound in Sentul, Bogor regency, West Java, on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. (JP/Theresia Sufa)
A
n Islamist gathering set to take place at the Az Zikra Mosque in Sentul, Bogor regency, West Java, was canceled on Saturday, but nearly 1,000 personnel from the Bogor Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) remained to stand guard over the location.
They were deployed to maintain security on Friday.
The event, called Indonesia: The Starting Point for the Rise of Islam in the World, was canceled because organizers had failed to obtain a permit from the Bogor Police, who claimed the gathering was part of the Islamic caliphate movement that aims to replace the country’s political system.
Local mass organizations and university student groups have also opposed the event.
Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Andi Mochamad Dicky cited residents’ rejection as the basis of police’s decision to withhold a permit.
Hadi Salam, a local cleric who chairs the gathering, said organizers had decided to cancel the event after it had to secure permission from the police.
“We urge participants to remain calm and present good manners,” he said in a statement on Friday.
He also urged participants from various regions who had arrived in Jakarta to visit local mosques and perform I’tikaf (seclusion in a mosque).
The organizers scheduled all participants to meet in the National Monument (Monas) for a gathering on Sunday.
