JAKARTA, 13 August 2007 — More than 70,000 members of a hard-line Muslim group held a rally in Indonesia that heard calls for a caliphate — or Islamic rule — to govern the world.
The supporters of the Hizbut Tahrir group filled up most of an 80,000-seat sports stadium in the capital Jakarta, waving flags as they heard fiery speeches saying it was “time for the caliphate to reign.”
The meeting was held as part of “civic education” for Indonesian Muslims, said Muhammad Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for Hizbut Tahrir.
The organization advocates Islamic rule and is banned in several Middle Eastern countries.
Supporters traveled to the stadium in convoys of buses from other parts of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. Local and foreign speakers were invited to give speeches.
But Yusanto said that two invitees, Imran Waheed from England and Sheikh Ismail Al-Wahwah from Australia, had been denied entry and deported from Indonesia on Friday.
“The organizing committee deplores the deportation because they came to Indonesia at the invitation of the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia to give their good advice for the progress of Islam, for the progress of this country,” he said.
“Those responsible for this are being paranoid,” Yusanto told reporters. “This has hurt our right of freedom of expression.”
The hard-line Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir declined to appear at the event, without giving a reason.
But Yusanto said that police had advised Bashir and another hard-line cleric, Habieb Rizieq, not to attend the conference.
The senior Muslim figure Dien Syamsuddin was among the key speakers to address the crowd. He is the chairman of Indonesia’s second largest Islamic movement, the Muhammadiyah.
“Islam’s progress or regress depends entirely on Muslims themselves,” he told the crowd.
He said that “the essence” of a caliphate was that Muslims be united and that therefore Indonesian Muslims should safeguard the unity of their country.
But popular Muslim preacher Abdullah Gymanstiar said Muslims in Indonesia were still divided over Shariah law.
“Why do some Muslims not agree with the Islamic Shariah, even though it is for the own good of Muslims?” he said, his voice quickly drowned out by loud applause.
Security did not appear tight for the conference, with police limiting their role to directing traffic.
The rally ended with a prayer and the participants left the venue peacefully, but caused massive traffic jams as they departed.
Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia regularly holds street protests in several main cities on Islam-related issues.
Though Hizbut Tahrir’s rallies are usually peaceful, the US Embassy last week cautioned its citizens against going near the gathering, noting that recent demonstrations in the country have turned violent. The group, though radical, does not support violence to obtain its objective.
House-Owner Held for Blast
Police have arrested the owner of a house in Indonesia’s West Java province after explosives, believed to be used for catching fish, went off killing three people, the provincial police chief said yesterday.
Herman Sumawiredja told a news conference that the blast, which ripped through several houses in the coastal town of Pasuruan on Saturday, did not appear to be a terrorist act.
Indonesia has suffered a wave of bombings blamed on militants linked to the Jemaah Islamiah militant group in recent years.
“Our preliminary conclusion is that the motive for making this bomb is to catch fish. There’s no link to terrorism,” Sumawiredja said.
Using explosives to catch fish is common practice in Indonesia, even though it is illegal.
Police were looking for another man believed to have made the device, the police chief said.
