The rally triggered by alleged blasphemy by Jakarta governor Ahok was really a vehicle for conservative groups to protest Joko Widodo.
AAP/Dani Daniar
An enormous rally in Jakarta, organised by hardline Islamic militia group the Islamic Defenders Front, appears to have mobilised a diverse group of conservative Muslims in Indonesia.
Racism, political agenda of Jakarta governor opponents in the upcoming gubernatorial race, and discontent from the urban poor over Purnama’s policy on forced evictions all factor in the protest turnout in addition to religious motives.
Reuters/Beawiharta
The reality of the November 4 rally in Jakarta is much more complex than growing Islamic radicalism in Indonesia.
Indonesia recently introduced forced chemical castration for perpetrators of sexual abuse against children. Last week Australian Robert Ellis (centre) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing girls in Bali.
EPA/Made Nagi
Indonesia’s decision to allow forced chemical castration as punishment for those who sexually abuse children is controversial.
When governments and students collide, university systems wobble.
Reuters
The politicisation of academia definitely contributes to a decline in academic standards. This is a situation South Africa must work hard to avoid. It can learn from others on the continent.
Protestants hold a Sunday service in the open air in Jakarta. Their efforts to erect their own church buildings have been blocked by hardline Muslim groups.
Cherian George
Truth’s victory over hate propaganda is neither automatic nor preordained. It requires a commitment to equal rights and norms of tolerance.
The country’s lawmakers for the past two years have been deliberating a new oil and gas bill without much progress.
Reuters/Darren Whiteside
Indonesian lawmakers should ignore a push from nationalists groups to return monopoly rights over the country’s oil and gas reserved to the state oil company, Pertamina.
Boosted by the anti-communist purge of 1965-66, Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years.
Reuters/Enny Nuraheni
While the details of exactly what happened during Indonesia’s 1965-66 massacre of ‘communists’ remain buried in the depths of time, here’s what we do know.
Water good idea.
Yarygin
Air pollution from burning firewood and charcoal is the fourth-biggest killer in many countries.
Sexuality, since it is imbued with moral panics, has for a long time been used strategically for political purposes.
www.shutterstock.com/Romolo Tavani
While Indonesia’s Constitutional Court deliberates whether casual sex should be outlawed, the government plans to ban gay dating apps.
Jennelyn Olaires cradles the body of her partner, who was killed on a street by a vigilante group in a spate of drug-related killings in the Philippines.
Reuters/Czar Dancel
ASEAN has been silent over the blatant disregard of human lives by the Philippines and Indonesia in the name of the ‘war on drugs’.
Asia is home to the world’s largest known stateless group, the Rohingya.
Reuters/Rafiquar Rahman
Unless managed more effectively, forced migration will have permanent and intensifying negative impacts on countries across the globe.
On major strategic questions facing the region Australia and Indonesia are in broad agreement.
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Australia and Indonesia should gradually re-frame their relationship by considering shared interests within the broader regional context.
Indonesia is the neighbour that makes Australians feel uneasy but also want to get on with.
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The annual Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) to be held in Bali this week is an initiative that can help change negative attitudes towards Indonesia.
Thousands of people in Bali have joined a movement to reject land reclamation in Benoa Bay.
Supplied
Mass tourism in Bali is causing the island to face imminent groundwater crisis.
How well do we know each other?
EPA/Adi Weda
An Indonesian expert in Australian studies weighs in on the recent survey of Australian-Indonesian perceptions.
George Brandis (centre) was ‘the guest’ of the co-ordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Wiranto (right), during a recent visit to Indonesia.
Matius Murib
Here’s the glaring omission in George Brandis’ list of issues raised recently with Indonesian President Joko Widodo: human rights.
Digital literacy remains relatively low in Indonesia.
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Messages on social media reportedly fuelled the burning of Buddhist temples in Indonesia last month. Laws against hate speech are widely ignored and weakly policed.
Human rights experts in Indonesia have repeatedly called for the government to stop the use of capital punishment.
Reuters/Beawiharta
Not only does the death penalty violate human rights, executions in Indonesia are carried out under a deeply flawed justice system.
Akbar Maulana, an Indonesian high school student in Turkey, talks with his teacher. Akbar is the main character in the newly released documentary Jihad Selfie.
Aswan
Why do boys decide to join Islamic State? A new documentary focusses on an Indonesian teenager who considers becoming a foreign fighter but takes another path. The film is now being screened to young people across the nation.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo announces the new members of his cabinet on Wednesday.
Reuters
Great expectations distorts the political horse-trading that shaped the new cabinet of Indonesia.