Huge Rally in Indonesia against Governor Accused of Blasphemy
Purnama, a long-term ally of President Joko Widodo, is being investigated over comments he made about his opponents' use of the Quran in campaigning. He denies wrongdoing but has apologized for the remarks.
Police officials estimated that at least 150,000 people, including many who travelled to Jakarta from towns and cities across the island of Java, had gathered under drizzling rain. Some reports put the number of protesters at several hundreds of thousands.
"This gathering is an expression of Muslims being united as one people, one body," said Salist Nursolikhah, 49, who flew into Jakarta from the city of Yogyakarta to join the rally.
"It's not against a particular person because of his ethnicity. We are only against his action," she told Reuters.
National news agency Antara said 22,000 police personnel were deployed to avoid a repeat of violence that flared during a protest last month when more than 100 people were injured in clashes with police.
The Indonesian president addressed the rally and praised the peaceful protest, before urging the crowd to leave safely.
"Thank you and safe travels on your return from where you came from. God bless you," said Widodo, who has blamed "political actors" for exploiting the popular fury over Purnama to destabilize his government.
The Jakarta governor is running for re-election in February against two Muslim candidates.
The contest has generated high political tension for weeks, with rumors of plots to undermine Widodo and scupper his chances of winning a second term in 2019.
Police have warned against attempts to destabilize the government. Police spokesman Rikwanto told a news conference that 10 people who he identified only by their initials had been detained before dawn on Friday, citing articles of the criminal code that cover conspiracy and acts of treason.
Two of them were charged under the law of information technology for hate speech.
"They have now been detained and are undergoing investigation," said Rikwanto, who goes by only one name.
Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population but recognizes six religions and is home to dozens of ethnic groups, some of which follow traditional beliefs.
Simmering religious and ethnic tension last month prompted Widodo to rally top military, political and religious figures in a sign of unity amid fears of attempts to undermine the stability of his government.
The Jakarta government has put up billboards on major roads calling for national unity and displaying pictures of independence heroes who fought against colonial rule.
Purnama is popular with many for pushing through tough reforms to modernize the traffic-plagued capital.
But opinion polls have shown him slipping into second place in the race for re-election as governor, a position that Widodo himself, who is popularly known as Jokowi, used as a stepping-stone to the presidency.
Police on Thursday handed over a dossier from their investigation of Purnama’s comments to prosecutors, who are expected to take the case of alleged blasphemy to court in coming weeks.
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