Members of hardline Muslim hold a mass pray as they attend a protest against Jakarta’s incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian running in the upcoming election, in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 4, 2016.
JAKARTA: Indonesian police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse hardline Muslims protesters on Friday, after tens of thousands had rallied to demand the resignation of the Christian governor of the capital, Jakarta, who they said had insulted the Quran .
Reuters witnesses saw at least five water cannon trucks in front of the Presidential Palace, the focal point of a protest that had been peaceful for most of the day.
Local media also showed footage of a fire breaking out close to the nearby National Monument, with thick black smoke billowing. Some reports said cars had been torched.
Some protesters were seen covering their faces and trying to move away from the tear gas, while others threw plastic bottles and other objects at police officers who had formed a barricade.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country, where many people follow a moderate form of Islam. While hardliners have launched occasional agitation in the past, protests on such a large scale have been rare.
A sea of white blanketed central Jakarta, as protesters wearing robes and Muslim caps took to the streets to demonstrate against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahja Purnama, a Christian and the first ethnic Chinese politician to hold the job.
Some Muslim groups have accused Purnama of blasphemy after he said his opponents had deceived voters by attacking him using a verse from the Koran.
“He is not Muslim but he humiliated the Koran,” protester Muhammad Said told Reuters. “Don’t refer to anything in the Koran, especially interpreting it incorrectly … I call on God to jail him.”
The protesters, led by a group called the Islamic Defenders Front, chanted “God is greatest” and waved placards calling for Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, to be jailed for blasphemy.
A white banner hung at an overpass was painted with red letters saying “Hang Ahok here”.
The atmosphere in Jakarta throughout Friday had been tense and some companies asked employees to work from home. Access to business districts was restricted and embassies urged caution.
Truckloads of soldiers and police, some equipped with rifles, were on patrol and others secured shopping malls earlier in the day. A total of about 18,000 security personnel were deployed in the sprawling city of 10 million, police said.
There were smaller protests against Purnama in other cities including Surabaya, Makassar and Medan.
Police are investigating the case against Purnama, who has apologised for his remarks, insisting he was not criticising the Koranic verse but those who used it to attack him.
Purnama served as deputy to President Joko Widodo when Widodo was city governor from 2012 to 2014, and has long been seen as an ally of the president.
Purnama was not available for comment on Friday. His spokeswoman said he went to check construction of a sidewalk in north Jakarta.
Widodo, a Muslim, has vowed not to interfere in any legal proceedings against Purnama, according to the Indonesian Clerical Council.
LEGAL PROCESS
Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters on Friday he and other government officials had met representatives of the protesters, and promised that the legal process involving Purnama will be executed “firmly and quickly”.
On Friday, Widodo visited a rail construction project at the capital’s airport, the presidential palace said in a statement.
Critics say Widodo’s government has not done enough to contain the religious and ethnic tension that is mounting ahead of a city governor election in February.
There has been a pushback against the hardliners on social media and some banners draped from an overpass called for respect of diversity.
“Your religion or ethnicity doesn’t matter, as long as you can do something good for everybody,” said one banner.
Purnama has a reputation as a tough reformer. He will compete for re-election against two Muslims – Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, a son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and a former education minister, Anies Baswedan.
Ethnic Chinese make up just over 1 percent of Indonesia’s 250 million people, and they typically do not enter politics.
Indonesia recognises six religions and a vast majority of the population practice a moderate form of Islam. But Indonesian Chinese have faced persecution and violence in the past, especially during the political and social turmoil that gripped the capital when former strongman Suharto was toppled.
Hundreds of people were killed during the 1998 violence and thousands of ethnic Chinese fled the country as mobs rampaged through Jakarta, looting and burning Chinese-owned shops and houses.
Indonesia suffered a series of Islamist militant attacks early in the last decade. An attack in Jakarta early this year by supporters of Islamic State raised fears of a new wave of violent militancy.
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