by Greg Mayer

Following up on the theme for the day, the New York Times reports that in Indonesia, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, has been convicted of blasphemy against Islam, and has been immediately placed in prison to begin his two year sentence while his lawyers appeal the case. Basuki, a Christian and ethnic Chinese, had succeeded to the governorship after his political ally, Joko Widodo, a Muslim, was elected president. Basuki was widely expected to be elected to the governorship outright, until Islamists argued that the Quran forbade Muslims from voting for non-Muslims.

His offense was arguing that a particular Quranic passage could be interpreted in a more enlightened manner than in the way his opponents interpreted it. From an earlier Times article:

[In an address to fishermen] Mr. Basuki lightheartedly cited a verse of the Quran that warns Muslims against taking Christians and Jews as allies. He said at the time that given Indonesia’s transition to democracy in 1999, it was perfectly acceptable for Muslim voters to choose a Christian in the election for governor in February.

A five judge panel has unanimously found that he’s guilty, evidently confirming that the Quran does indeed forbid Muslims from voting for non-Muslims. One of the groups that demanded Basuki be punished for his blasphemy was Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the Times describes as a group that

… rejects democratic governance and says it aims to create a Pan-Islamic state among predominantly Muslim countries, by force if necessary. The group has been tolerated in Indonesia despite openly rejecting the secular, democratically elected government and the pluralist, multireligious national ideology, known as Pancasila.

Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian human rights researcher, summed it up:

“It’s a sad day, and it’s frightening … If the governor of Indonesia’s largest and most complex city, and who is an ally of the Indonesian president, can be brought down and humiliated this way, what will happen to normal Indonesian citizens?”

____

JAC: Let me add here that Muslim apologists like Reza Aslan always point to Indonesia as an example of an “enlightened” Muslim country.