Coordinating Minister For Political, Legal And Security Affairs Affirms No Islamophobia In Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD/screenshot via ANTARA

YOGYAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD emphasized that there is no Islamophobia or feelings of fear or hatred of Islam in Indonesia.

"Muslims are free to compete in politics, in government, intellectuals, basically Islam is free. Where is the phobia?" Mahfud said when he was a speaker at the Indonesian One Century Imagination National Dialogue at the integrated campus of the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), Sleman, as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, July 26.

Mahfud regretted that recently there was a lively upload on social media that said there was an Islamophobic phenomenon in Indonesia.

The current government, according to Mahfud, is actually trying to build Indonesia based on the noble values of Islam.

"We are building Indonesia, if for Muslims this was Islamic, Islamic, Islam as noble values. An open Islam, a cosmopolitan Islam, considers other people the same. However, matters of worship, yes, myself, You alone," said Mahfud.

According to him, Islamophobia at least means being afraid of Muslims, then making anti-Islamic policies.

"Nothing, here, our government is afraid of Muslims, in fact the government is happy, that's right, declare Islam, bring prayer mats, ministers bring prayer rugs, the President goes to the mosque with prayer rugs, the President is not afraid to go to Islamic boarding schools, you know, professing Islam," he said.

In addition to fear, according to him, phobia also means hate. "No one hates it. All Muslims can compete," he said.

Besides there is no Islamophobia, said Mahfud, currently the opportunities for Muslims to advance are much wider than during the New Order era.

"A lot of professors at UGM I just found out that they were NU (Nahdlatul Ulama) people after the reformation era because the New Order era did not dare to admit, there were phobias. Now there are no phobias," he said.

Mahfud also compared the freedom of Muslims today to the era of the Minister of Education and Culture Daoed Joesoef during the New Order era, which limited the use of Muslim clothing.

"In the past, in the Daoed Joesoef era, people were officially prohibited from wearing the hijab, officially banned, that was a phobia. Not now. In fact, (now) the police themselves have Muslim clothes, so it's called a phobia," said Mahfud.