Always A Discussion After The 2019 Presidential Election, Coordinating Minister For Political, Legal And Security Affairs Denies Jokowi's Government Is Anti-Islam

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD dismissed the issue of the anti-Islam Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration.

According to Mahfud, the issue is not in accordance with the facts and practices that occur in society, so the accusation that the government is anti-Islam is a form of hatred against Islam or Islamophobia.

"Nowadays all Islam (in government elements, ed.) and there is no anti-Islamic politics, because of the policies demanded by Muslims, all Muslims are fulfilled to the point of exaggeration," said Mahfud during a dialogue with the Chancellor of Paramadina Didik University. J Rachbini via Twitter quoted by Antara, Wednesday, September 29.

Mahfud said that the government led by President Joko Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin was actually trying to meet the demands of Muslims.

"There is a (proposed) Law on Islamic Boarding Schools. There is a National Santri Day. Now, the government is making a Perpres (Presidential Regulation) on a Perpetual Fund for Islamic Boarding Schools. The state provides several trillion funds for the development of Islamic boarding schools. That cannot be tampered with," said Mahfud.

Therefore, he rejects any notion that the Jokowi government is anti-Islam, or anti-Islamic politics.

Mahfud explained that many Islamic values and teachings are practiced organically by the community and in daily life, for example, there is the adoption of sharia teachings in economic activities.

Regarding the issue of criminalizing ulama, according to Mahfud, there are no clerics who have been imprisoned for carrying out religious activities.

Mahfud MD said that there were very few people who went to jail, because they were proven guilty of violating the laws and regulations.

"Criminalization means that people who do not commit a crime are imprisoned. Now who are the clerics that are being accused? Nothing, except those who are indeed criminals (he) provoked, spread hate speech," said Mahfud.

However, he added that the number of clerics who were criminally entangled was quite small. "(They) have indeed been proven (at trial) to have committed a crime. Therefore, we are proportional," said Mahfud.

In addition to discussing the government's accusations of anti-Islam, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and the Chancellor of Paramadina University also discussed democracy in Indonesia, the polemic of the national insight test (TWK) at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and the chaos of the Democratic Party.

The dialogue, entitled "National Politics, Regional Development, and Hometown," was held by the Political Economy Forum (FEP) Didik J Rachbini.