http://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesia-and-the-politicization-of-muslim-extremism/77591
Indonesia and the politicization of Muslim extremism Campaign against Christian Jakarta governor is an opportunity for Muslim hard-liners to undermine secularism Indonesian Muslim demonstrators, holding banners that read "put Ahok in jail" march towards the presidential palace during a protest against Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, over an alleged blasphemy in Jakarta on Nov. 4. (Photo by AFP) John McBeth, Jakarta Indonesia November 11, 2016 When Jakarta Governor Barsuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama carelessly told voters last month that they should not be swayed by a conservative interpretation of the Quran that forbids Muslims from being ruled by non-Muslims, he opened a Pandora’s Box that President Joko Widodo will find difficult to close. This goes far beyond efforts to prevent Ahok winning a second term in next February’s hotly-contested Jakarta gubernatorial elections. For Muslim extremists, at least, it is another opportunity to chip away at the foundations of Indonesia as a secular state. As an ethnic-Chinese Christian who, in fact, has attended Islamic schools and whose father has financed the building of mosques in his native Sumatra, he is now facing a possible charge of blasphemy.
