ReligiousAffairs Minister Confident Friday Rally Held Peacefully
30 November 2016 11:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Padang - Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin is optimistic that Friday’s rally, dubbed Aksi Bela Islam III (Third Act to Defend Islam), will be held peacefully. The rally will be centered at the National Monument area in Central Jakarta.
“I’m very optimistic it will be entirely peaceful,” he said on Tuesday in Padang.
Lukman expects that the agreement between the National Police and rally initiator the National Movement to Guard the Indonesian Ulema Council (GNPF MUI) can be implemented. Muslims have planned to perform prayers during the event.
Lukman called on participants to act peacefully and maintain harmony in order not to harm the nation.
“It’s not a protest like the previous ones. They [participants] have promised to only perform dhikr [remembrance of God] and communal prayer,” he said.
He, however, warned against attempts to interfere with the peaceful rally and break the agreement.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Suhardi Alius said earlier that his agency continues to coordinate with Muslim organizations to anticipate possible attempt by radical groups to infiltrate Aksi Bela Islam III. “We continue to monitor [circumstances] on the ground,” he said yesterday.
ANDRI EL FARUQI