Jokowi threatens to ‘clobber’ hardline groups

JAKARTA: President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday that authorities would “clobber” any group threatening to destroy Indonesia’s tradition of pluralism and moderate Islam, and called for unity ahead of presidential elections in 2019.

Religious and political tensions have spiralled in the last six months with rallies against Jakarta’s former governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian who was charged with insulting the Quran and put on trial.

Hardline groups, banned under the authoritarian regime of president Suharto which ended in 1998, have gained ground in recent years, though they are usually small and on the fringes of society.

In an interview with Metro TV, Widodo, also known as Jokowi, said there were no words other than “clobber” or “kick” to describe how to deal with groups that threatened the stability of the state.

“Because it is very fundamental: Pancasila, a united Republic of Indonesia, the 1945 constitution, ‘Unity in Diversity’. If anybody tries to change these, shift these, there are no other words.”

Indonesia’s state ideology, Pancasila, includes national unity, social justice and democracy alongside belief in God, and enshrines religious diversity in an officially secular system of government.

Widodo declined to single out any group but this month officials said Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia would be disbanded because it wanted to undermine the secular system.

Another such group, the Islamic Defenders’ Forum, rose to prominence during the recent Jakarta elections.

The group was instrumental in mobilising hundreds of thousands of people to rally against Purnama, who is an ally of Widodo. – Reuters