CIDISS. The Wahid Foundation annual report states that cases of violations of freedom of religion and belief will increase in the lead-up to the regional head elections and presidential elections. Religion politicization is generally translated as manipulation of understanding / teaching / religious knowledge through propaganda, indoctrination, campaigning and socialization in the public area so that it is interpreted or defined as if understanding / teaching / knowledge is really to influence public consensus / policy for the benefit of one party.
In its report, the Wahid Foundation revealed that cases of violations of religious freedom and belief in the lead up to the presidential and legislative elections in 2019 will increase. The most dangerous religious politicization is the expression of hatred and discrimination that not only targets individuals, but also gender, ethnicity, religion, beliefs or certain groups.
The politicization of religion is most visible in the second round of DKI Jakarta 2017 regional head elections, especially against women and girls. During this period, there were threats to social media which said that women supporting Jakarta Governor Candidate Basukit Tjahja Purnama aka Ahok halal were raped. In addition, information was also widely circulated about the body of a grandmother named Hindun who was refused to be sanctified because during her lifetime she supported Ahok.
The main problem behind this politicization is not because Indonesians are against religious differences and beliefs, but because of two things, namely the excessive use of idioms or religious symbols in public spaces and the efforts of some groups to exploit feelings of dislike, feeling threatened, and hatred of different groups for gaining public support, for achieving political support. The three most violations were carried out verbally, namely hate speech, prohibition of activities, and intimidation or threats. This is predicted to be increasingly dominant next year.
The challenge in upholding freedom of religion and belief is that there are still government policies that are discriminatory against religious minorities, weak law enforcement, and the existence of fatwas that are not friendly to religious minorities.
By: Mirwan Achmad *)
