Add Category
Posted
One of Indonesia's most respected Islamic clerics has issued a call for calm as religious conservatives attack the daughter of the nation's first president, Sukarno.
- The jihad was issued for a poem the group say insulted Islam
- Protests are planned this week following Friday prayers
- Ms Sukmawati made a complaint to police last year about FPI's leader
One hard-line group has issued a "call for jihad" against Sukmawati Sukarnoputri for allegedly insulting Islam in a poem.
It is the same blasphemy offence that led to a two-year jail term for Jakarta's Christian governor "Ahok" Basuki.
The head of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Ma'ruf Amin, has called for compassion and compromise as Ms Sukmawati's critics attempt to escalate the issue into a major crisis.
"We need to solve our differences through dialogue, to find solution and agreement … we don't want conflict like in other countries," said Ma'ruf Amin, who held a joint press conference with Ms Sukmawati.
The hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who issued the "call for jihad", has asked its supporters to protest against Ms Sukmawati after this week's Friday prayers.
The group complained to police about a poem written by the younger sister of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
The complaint focused on two lines of the poem, written in 2006.
"I don't know Islamic Sharia, what I know is that the essence of Mother Indonesia's konde (a traditional hairstyle) is very beautiful, more so than the veil on your face.
… I don't know Islamic Sharia, what I know is that Mother Indonesia's song is so pleasing, more so than your call to prayer."
Ms Sukmawati, like her father and sister, is Muslim.
Ms Sukmawati has apologised to "all the Muslims in Indonesia" for offending them but her apology has not satisfied groups like the FPI.
Behind the criticism of Ms Sukmawati is a complex web of revenge and political alliances ahead of general elections in 2019.
The FPI has loathed Ms Sukmawati since she made a complaint to police last year about FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab, saying the cleric had insulted Indonesia's founding principles.
Rizieq fled the country during a police investigation into the complaint, and remains in self-imposed exile in Saudi Arabia.
It is possible he will be prosecuted over the offence if he returns.
Ms Sukmawati and her sister Megawati are also political allies of Indonesia's president Joko Widodo.
Ms Megawati is chair of Jokowi's PDIP party. The president is up for re-election next year and his campaign would be damaged by protests or criminal charges against Ms Sukmawati.
One potential rival candidate against Jokowi, former military commander Gatot Nurmantyo, has joined in the controversy with a poem of his own.
"Beautiful and lovely Mother Indonesia is not her real face.
"Hers is that way because of the beaming glow that glorifies her beauty with songs of praise for God, the guidance of the Koran and the calling of the Lord, which is the call to prayer, in every corner of the archipelago."
The FPI says it will hold protests on Friday outside Jakarta's police headquarters.