TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Mass group disperses 'caliphate' lecture planned by former HTI members in NTT
The government officially disbanded the HTI, a radical Muslim organization seeking to establish a global Islamic caliphate, in July 2017, when the Law and Human Rights Ministry revoked the HTI’s status as a legal entity.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Members of banned Islamic organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) stage a rally to promote the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Malang, East Java. (Kompas.com/File)
A
mass organization in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has broken up a lecture session planned by former members of the disbanded Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).
The lecture, which was supposed to take place in Tuak Daun Merah subdistrict, Oebobo district, on Saturday, was prevented from taking place by members of a group calling themselves Laskar Timor Indonesia (LTI). The LTI alleged the meeting was an attempt to promote the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.
“The HTI has been disbanded but the members still like to spread their caliphate ideology so we had to prevent the event from taking place,” LTI leader and priest Ady Ndiy said.
According to Ady, former HTI members issued invitations for university students to attend the lecture. The invitations, he claimed, were not only extended to Muslim students but also to non-Muslims, including Christians who form the majority religious group in the region.
The event was supposed to take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, however, LTI members arrived and demanded the lecture ─ which they claimed did not have a valid permit from the authorities ─ be canceled, and they asked students attending the event to go home, Ady said.
Ady claimed that the team that was supposed to lead the lecture, including an Islamic preacher, would at the end give speeches designed to persuade both Muslim and non-Muslim participants to establish an Islamic state.
“Such a lecture could destroy this country because it pits our citizens against each other,” said Ady, adding that the LTI ─ which was established in 2018 ─ aimed to eradicate radical ideology that contradicted state ideology Pancasila.
