Religion, Law and Intolerance in Indonesia by Tim Lindsey Helen Pausacker

Author:Tim Lindsey, Helen Pausacker [Tim Lindsey, Helen Pausacker]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138100879
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2016-05-25T00:00:00+00:00

Rhoma Irama Case

The attacks on the Jokowi-Ahok team continued, however, including from the famous ‘King of Dangdut’, Rhoma Irama. Besides exploiting his Muslim identity, the incumbent governor, Fauzi Bowo, campaigned against Jokowi-Ahok on the basis of race and ethnicity by claiming to be a ‘real’ indigenous Betawi Jakartan. It is publicly known that Jokowi is a Javanese Muslim, while Ahok is a Chinese Christian. Rhoma Irama went further still, even questioning Ahok’s legitimacy as a ‘true’ Indonesian.

Rhoma Irama was videotaped giving a political speech in a West Jakarta mosque, in which he pointed out that Fauzi Bowo is a Muslim and of Betawi descent, the Betawi being Jakarta’s native ethnic group. The singer went on to point out that Fauzi’s running mate, Nachrowi Ramli, shared a similar ethnicity. Rhoma Irama warned his audience against voting for Joko Widodo and Ahok, because, according to him, the former had Christian parents and the latter was Chinese and Christian. ‘Muslims would see their reputation sink if they elect non-Muslims’, he said, and ‘Joko Widodo is just a step for Ahok and the Chinese to assume power’. In his closing words, he alleged, ‘ethnic Malays would face subjugation by Chinese in Jakarta, as they did in Singapore when it gained Independence from Malaysia, should Ahok be allowed to govern’.16

Making race a political game is a dangerous card to play. Acts of violence targeting Chinese-Indonesians ahead of the regime change in May 1998 inflicted deep wounds on pluralism in Jakarta. It was reported that many Chinese women were raped during the riots.17 Soon after Rhoma Irama’s statement, a video spread on YouTube rejecting the participation of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in the final round of the election for Governor of Jakarta. This video was titled ‘Chinese Cowboy to Lead Jakarta’, and appeared to be being used to threaten Chinese Indonesians, in an effort to convince them not to exercise their voting rights. This two-minute video shows a blurred image of a man holding a machete, followed by a frightening message. ‘We, the Youth Saviours of Jakarta, give an ultimatum to the Chinese to not vote in the final round of the Election or …’, says the shadowy figure. Scenes of riots then follow (VOA Islam 2012). These scenes are very similar to the riots that actually occurred in May of 1998. 14 May 1998 was the worst day of rioting in Jakarta, which then looked like a city of death. By the end of the day, 2 hospitals, 2 sub-district offices, 13 markets, 40 shopping malls, 11 police stations, over 60 bank offices, 383 private offices, 24 restaurants, 12 hotels, over 1,000 private homes and thousands of shops in Jakarta and in neighbouring cities had gone up in flames, or had been seriously damaged (Dijk 2001: 192).

The government quickly asked YouTube to block the video, while Rhoma Irama was called up by Bawaslu to clarify his comments. He was ticked off by the authorities but declined to apologise, claiming that he had done nothing wrong. Rhoma Irama is, however, clearly wrong when he says that Jokowi’s parents are non-Muslim.

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