- Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict says government’s efforts to curb hate speech could further inflame religious and political tensions
- Think tank’s warning follows riots in May over disputed elections in which challenger backed by Islamist groups failed to topple president
Indonesia's tougher stance against religious hardliners seeking to turn the secular country into an Islamic state must avoid fuelling a narrative of repression that would give these groups a cause to unite around, a think tank warned on Tuesday.
The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) released a study examining how police have come to see radical Islam as one of the biggest security threats facing the country. The policy has led to greater scrutiny of social media and tighter controls on street rallies as part of efforts by authorities to portray those trumpeting political Islam as one step away from violent extremists.
The harder line follows unrest in May over Indonesia's disputed presidential election, when supporters of losing candidate Prabowo Subianto, who was backed by Islamist groups, took to the streets, triggering a two-day riot in which nine people died. The demonstrators accused President Joko Widodo of vote rigging.
IPAC urged caution in the government's efforts to curb hate speech, saying they could further inflame religious and political antagonism and be perceived as an attack on freedom of expression.
"He (Widodo) can do that by ensuring there are clear criteria for curbing hateful or demeaning expressions on social media, that defamation laws are not used to arrest individuals for casual criticism of public officials, and that there is a clear distinction made between incitement and legitimate dissent," the report said.
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Officials also recently announced they would be vetting civil servants for signs of extremism.
"The government needs to ensure … those affected have legal recourse to challenge institutional decisions," the think tank added.
"Islamism, with its majoritarian views and preoccupations with morality and orthodoxy, is far from being a spent force in Indonesia. Managing it may end up being a central concern for President Widodo in his second term."
Professor Zachary Abuza of the National War College in Washington, who specialises in insurgencies and terrorism, said that despite the riots many Islamist groups had been deterred from taking to the streets by "the very overt presence of security forces, who signalled in a very overt manner that extralegal actions and violence would not be tolerated".
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The protesters numbered in their thousands, but the unrest was on a smaller scale than Indonesia's civil strife of 1998.
Abuza said it would be worrying if the government was forced to rely on the military to sustain Indonesia's democracy.
"That does not bode well for the future of civil-military relations," he said.
IPAC urged Widodo to reach out to rank-and-file members of hardline Islamist groups such as the Salafis, but "without pandering to their ultra-conservative leaders or adopting elements of their agenda".
The think tank said there was also a need to reduce economic inequality to undercut professed Islamist grievances, and this needed supporting with a good communications strategy to publicise any positive achievements.
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"The president can focus on ensuring he is less vulnerable on the inequality charge by ensuring his economic programmes are not concentrated on Java and in NU-dominated areas but are spread evenly across different Islamic groups and regions," the report said.
The NU, or Nahdlatul Ulama, is the country's largest moderate Muslim organisation and claims to have more than 50 million followers. Java is Indonesia's most populous island.
"Widodo must avoid seeming to rely exclusively on Nahdlatul Ulama, the huge Java-centred moderate Muslim organisation that helped power him to victory."
Rival Prabowo won in many provinces outside Java.
Large numbers of Islamists dislike Widodo and the animosity is expected to persist despite talk of reconciliation between the two men.
"They (Islamists) see him (Widodo) as a standard-bearer for secularism, a closet communist " as evidenced by his reliance on China for development projects " and a promoter of immorality through his party's support for a bill to protect victims of sexual violence," IPAC said.
"The repressive turn of the police only reinforces the antipathy."
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