Nancy-Amelia Collins and Agencies in Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated in Jakarta yesterday to demand a holy war against Christians in the violence-torn Maluku Islands.
The protest, by far the largest yet, posed a serious challenge for President Abdurrahman Wahid's Government and could exacerbate its differences with military leaders over the fighting, diplomats and analysts warned.
Chanting "jihad", up to 50,000 protesters gathered in Jakarta's Merdeka Square. On Wednesday, fewer than 3,000 had marched, while on Thursday there were only about 5,000.
"We give [Mr Wahid] one month to stop the killings of Muslims," said Husin Ali al-Habsy, one of the speakers at the rally. "Otherwise, we are ready to send at least 10,000 people [to the Malukus] to defend the Muslims."
One protester carried a banner reading: "Thousands of Muslims are slaughtered by Christians. Blood must be paid for with blood."
Calls for a jihad, or holy war, are a relatively new phenomenon in Indonesia, a multi-ethnic nation where the Muslim majority among its 210 million people has generally been seen as moderate.
The gathering gave politicians a chance not only to show they are sympathetic to the plight of the Muslims in the Malukus – who are being slaughtered by Christians, according to the protesters – but also to gain political advantage.
Speaker of the People's Assembly, Amien Rais, admonished the Government, and particularly Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, for failing to take decisive action in the ravaged territory. He told the crowd the conflict in the Malukus was an attempt to weaken Islam in the country.
Mr Wahid has personally charged Ms Megawati with reducing tensions in the Malukus and elsewhere. So far, aside from a short trip to the territory in December with Mr Wahid, Ms Megawati has done little to halt the conflict and said nothing about her plans for doing so.
"Rais is pacifying Muslims because nothing is being done," said political analyst Andy Mallarangeng. "But he also has a political motive. This is the perfect time to show how incompetent the Vice-President is."
Mr Wahid said yesterday violence on Halmahera and other northern Maluku islands was not sectarian but political. "Local Muslims have been using Christians to slaughter other Muslims," Mr Wahid said.
The President also said a ship carrying Muslims planning to fight a jihad was on its way to the islands. The Indonesian navy said it had blockaded waters around the Malukus.
Mr Mallarangeng called the Jakarta protests a warning to the Government, which he said would lose its legitimacy if the situation in the Malukus was not resolved soon.
"I believe Gus Dur [as Mr Wahid is widely known] can survive, but he must take decisive action now. I am really worried," the analyst said. "If this violence spreads to the other islands, it will spread to Jakarta and could bring down this Government."
A diplomat said the military wanted the authority to control the situation in the Malukus because it was a chance to show it was still powerful and "indispensable". "This is a power struggle between hardliners in the military and the President," the diplomat said.