A tense election threatens Indonesia’s religious tolerance
Hardline Muslim agitators help to defeat the Christian incumbent
THE mood in Jakarta was jittery in the days leading up to its gubernatorial election on April 19th. Around 64,000 police, soldiers and other security personnel were deployed to keep the peace. At least one policeman guarded every one of the 13,000-odd polling stations.
Islamist agitators implied the incumbent governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, was planning to steal the election, and threatened to flood the city with supporters to safeguard the vote. They accused Ahok, who is both Christian and of Chinese ancestry, of “Christianising” Jakarta because, to some paranoid minds, a mosque built by the city government resembles a cross. A Facebook user claimed the gang rape and murder of Ahok’s supporters would not be sinful.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Division in diversity"
Asia April 22nd 2017
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