One in five high school, university students support caliphate

JAKARTA: Nearly 20 percent of high school and university students in Indonesia support the establishment of a caliphate in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country over the current secular government, a new survey showed this week.

In recent years, the country’s reputation for religious tolerance has come under scrutiny as hardline Islamic groups muscle their way into public and political life in the young democracy.

The majority of Indonesians practice a moderate form of Islam and the country has sizable minorities of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and people who adhere to traditional beliefs. Religious diversity is enshrined in its constitution.

The survey by an organisation based here polled more than 4,200 Muslim students, mostly in top schools and universities on Java island, home to over half the country’s population.

Nearly one in five students said they were, to varying degrees, ready to wage jihad to achieve a caliphate.

“This indicates that intolerant teachings have already entered top universities and high schools,” pollster Alvara said in its report released on Tuesday.

“The government and moderate Islamic organisations must start taking tangible steps to anticipate this and be present in student circles with language that is easy for them to understand,” the report added.

Hard-line Islamic groups late last year led mass street rallies against the capital’s former governor, a Christian, whom they be- lieved had insulted Islam. They eventually succeeded in derailing Basuki Tjahaja Purnama’s reelection bid in April this year, and he was subsequently jailed for blasphemy. The ruling was criticised globally as unjust.

Groups like the Islamic Defenders Front call for syariah to be imposed and believe that only Muslims should lead the country. Reuters