Asian Angle | As Muslim split deepens, Indonesia creaks under weight of intolerance

Indonesia has moved to disband the decades-old hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).

In a speech on May 8, retired general Wiranto, now a government minster, listed three grounds: that HTI had not assumed a positive role in the country’s efforts to achieve national goals; that its activities contradict the country’s principles and constitution; and that it had caused conflict in society, which may threaten security.

Wiranto said the group’s aim of establishing a caliphate was a threat to the nation state of Indonesia and that it would be disbanded legally.

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Rejecting the plan, the officially registered organisation maintained that for 20 years it has mainly proselytised and preached about Islam, which is not against the law.

HTI is the Indonesian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international, pan-Islamic, political organisation established in Palestine in 1953, aiming to unify all Muslim countries under an elected ruler, or caliph.

It began its activities in the 1980s, by proselytising and recruiting members at campuses.

In 2007, at a large meeting organised by HTI in Jakarta, tens of thousands expressed support for the caliphate.

In 2016, Indonesian police found that Bahrun Naim, the alleged planner of the Jakarta bombing that year, had previously studied with Hizb ut-Tahrir.