Following the dismissal of the police chiefs of Jakarta and West Java, which was ordered by Coordinating Political, Legal and Human Rights Minister Mahfud MD, the Jakarta Police on Tuesday summoned Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, seeking clarification regarding a public gathering held at the FPI headquarters in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, where thousands of Rizieq's supporters gathered without wearing masks and causally ignoring social-distancing rules.

"I came here as a private citizen to provide a clarification to the police," Anies told reporters soon after arriving at the police headquarters.

Anies was the first and only high-profile politician to welcome Rizieq upon his return from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday last week.

The questioning of Anies took place shortly after the National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis moved to dismiss Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana and West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Rudy Sufahradi Novianti from their positions on Monday for their failure to enforce COVID-19 restrictions during the rally to welcome Rizieq both at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, as well as during the weekend wedding of Rizieq's daughter in Puncak, West Java.

The police plan to summon Rizieq for questioning in the future. Also on the list of officials to be questioned is Central Jakarta Mayor Bayu Meghantara.

The National Police have also decided to ban future gatherings planned by Rizieq and his supporters.

National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Awi Setiyono said on Tuesday that they would not issue a permit for Rizieq's supporters to hold an event dubbed the 212 rally at the National Monument (Monas) in the near future. The name 212, refers to Dec. 2, 2016, the date when Islamist groups held a large protest to demand the imprisonment of then Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy.

Rizieq played an instrumental role in the rally, which many have credited as being responsible for securing Anies’ victory in the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2017.

Anies previously claimed his administration, through the Central Jakarta mayor’s office, had already briefed organizers of Rizieq's homecoming event to implement physical-distancing measures during the gathering, which was also held to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.

President Jokowi has expressed his anger over the mass gatherings to welcome Rizieq and has called on leaders of local administrations to step up their enforcement of COVID-19 social-distancing rules.

During a Cabinet meeting on Monday, President Jokowi also called on the National Police chief, the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo to get tough on violators of the COVID-19 restrictions.

"Public safety should be the ultimate priority. For this pandemic we have decided on social-distancing rules and these include dispersing crowds," Jokowi said.

Over the weekend the controversy surrounding the mass gatherings following the return of the FPI leader last week prompted many to question the government's commitment to enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.

The large-scale violations also raised concerns about the government’s inability to get tough on firebrand groups to the detriment of public health and safety.

Mainstream Islamic organizations have blasted the government for what they deem as undue leniency toward the controversial cleric and his supporters.

Many have pointed to the decision by task force chief Doni to distribute hand sanitizers and masks during Rizieq's homecoming event as proof of preferential treatment for the cleric.

Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti called on government agencies tasked with handling the coronavirus pandemic, including the national COVID-19 task force, to take a stricter approach toward violators of social-distancing rules.

“Government agencies, particularly the national COVID-19 task force, must have the courage to take strict action against any events that fail to comply with safety measures, including Rizieq’s,” he said.

Mu'ti personally called on Rizieq to set an example toward his followers on the issue of adhering to COVID-19 physical-distancing rules.

Yenny Wahid, the director of religious freedom watchdog Wahid Foundation, expressed her concern that the blatant disregard for COVID-19 restrictions as displayed by Rizieq and his supporters could compromise the government's effectiveness in dealing with the pandemic.

“I am very concerned that the efforts and achievement [by health workers] all these months could be undone by violations from the mass gatherings that have taken place over the last few days,” she told The Jakarta Post.

Yenny went further by calling on the government to postpone all major political events, including the upcoming simultaneous regional elections in early December, in an effort to further flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmission.

“We expect the government to take a firm stance with everyone and avoid giving special treatment,” Yenny said.

Despite having imposed a slew of COVID-19 restrictions across the archipelago, many cities have seen public events held without the implementation of physical-distancing measures.

Tegal Legislative Council (DPRD) deputy speaker Wasmad Edi Susilo, for instance, has drawn ire for throwing a dangdut concert during a campaign event in the Central Java city that attracted a huge crowd in September.

For this violation, he was charged under Article 93 of Law No. 6/2018 on quarantine.

The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has recorded a total of 1,315 health protocol violations as regional election candidates hosted face-to-face campaign events during the first month of campaigning between Sept. 26 and Nov. 4.

University of Indonesia epidemiologist Tri Yunis Miko said poor public communication and a lack of strict regulations contributed to rampant violations of COVID-19 restrictions.

“The government should be more serious because this disease has already claimed more than 15,000 lives,” Tri said.

-- Sausan Atika contributed to this story