TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo spared his time to mention about Indonesia’s current social conditions during his meeting with the leaders of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). One of the topics discussed in the meeting was the tendency to report people to the police and berate each other following the religious blasphemy case entangling inactive Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
“President Jokowi mentioned about the condition where people reporting and berating each other,” People’s Consultative Assembly deputy speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.
Ever since Ahok’s blasphemy case came to light, a number of police reports were filed against certain individuals. For instance, Islamic Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab has been reported three times to the police for allegedly spreading hate and insulting other religions.
Another example is the arrest of Nurul Fahmi, for carrying a desecrated red and white flag during a rally. Fahmi was waving a flag that had a few Arabic letters written in the middle of it. Fahmi was then accused of insulting a state symbol and was named a suspect.
Hidayat Nur Wahid believes that Fahmi did not have any intentions to insult the state symbol. Fahmi’s detention was recently suspended.
According to Hidayat Nur Wahid, President Jokowi does not want similar cases to recur in the future. Hidayat added that the President called for deliberations to settle such cases.
“That’s why President Jokowi said something about the National Tolerance Council, which is expected to solve various issues through discussion to avoid [the problem] reaching the level of making police reports and publicly berating each other,” Hidayat Nur Wahid said.
ISTMAN MP