Hardline Islamists are planning a second mass rally in the Indonesian capital as they continue to threaten to oust President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unless he outlaws a minority Muslim sect.
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), linked to recent deadly acts of religious violence in Indonesia, has called for a revolution like that seen in Egypt and claims thousands of its members and supporters will march on the State Palace next month.
On Friday, several hundred members of the group carried banners as they protested in central Jakarta calling for Dr Yudhoyono to disband Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect, shouting that they wanted an “Islamic revolution”.
Advertisement: Story continues belowMembers of FPI have been linked to the murder of three Ahmadiyah during a violent rampage involving 1500 people in west Java’s Banten province two weeks ago, which prompted the president to call for extremist groups to be brought into line and for greater religious tolerance in Indonesia.
A second mass protest is now planned for March 1, when FPI members are expected to camp outside the State Palace with one member of the group, Misbakhul Hanan, telling the Jakarta Globe newspaper that if their demands are not met, “the revolution that happened in Egypt will happen in Indonesia too”.
The comments came as FPI chairman Habib Haziq used his Friday sermon to say he would not rest, no matter what the risks, until Ahmadiyah was eliminated.
“In the name of Allah, I swear that until the last drop of my blood, whatever the risks, Ahmadiyah must not exist in Indonesia,” he reportedly said.
Human rights organisations have voiced concerns about a recent upswing in religious violence in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, after mobs also ransacked a court and burnt Christian churches in Temanggung in central Java, just days after the attack on Ahmadiyah worshippers.
The riot in Temanggung came after a Christian man was sentenced to the maximum five years in jail for insulting Islam, disappointing the crowd which demanded the court hand him over so that he could be executed.