Indonesia’s hard-won pluralism under threat

Indonesia’s constitution was painstakingly negotiated by secular nationalist and Muslim leaders to unify an ethnically and culturally diverse nation. It guarantees religious freedom, even though 88 per cent of the 250 million population follows Islam. Blasphemy charges brought against the Christian and ethnic Chinese governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, whose trial opened yesterday, therefore threaten pluralism and religious tolerance. Shrewd action is urgently needed by President Joko Widodo to calm the storm whipped up by Islamic hardliners.

There is no better symbol of Indonesia’s pluralism than Purnama, popularly known as Ahok. A rare double minority among officials, he took over as governor of the capital in 2014 after his predecessor, Widodo, won the presidency. But conservative Muslims believe only followers of Islam should hold high office, despite the provisions of the constitution and the national motto, “unity in diversity”. His decision to hold the post in his own right by standing in elections in February has sparked protests by extremists that twice in recent months has brought at least 150,000 to the streets. Purnama, once the front-runner in opinion polls, has slipped to second behind Augus Yudhoyono, the son of a former president.