The Ghost of Pancasila?

[lifelongexpat]

A 30.4 meter tall statue of Guan Yu (a legendary Chinese general from the Three Kingdoms era who is also worshipped as a deity in Chinese folk religion) located in Kwan Sing Bio Temple in Tuban, East Java, was declared the tallest statue of the god in Southeast Asia by the World Record Museum of Indonesia (MURI) when it was unveiled in mid-July.

But on Saturday, the statue earned a new distinction as the tallest statue in Southeast Asia to be covered up by a giant white cloth due to controversy.

Perhaps they would also accept leaving the statue as it is, covered in white cloth, so that it could represent the ghost of Pancasila and Unity in Diversity.

https://coconuts.co/jakarta/news/ig...a-giant-statue-chinese-god-covered-east-java/

 

[William King]

Didik said that protesters would continue their calls to have the statue removed and replaced with one honoring Indonesia’s national heroes. He said that if the government did not accede to their demands, they would take it upon themselves to demolish it.

Nuff said.

 

[kratos]

They covered it up with a huge white blanket...
You know, the FPI Robe attributes

 

[lifelongexpat]

They covered it up with a huge white blanket...
You know, the FPI Robe attributes

Maybe it will be replaced with a 30m high statue of Habib Rizieq.

 

[dafluff]

Now also cover by NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/...ese-statue-islam-muslims-protest-guan-yu.html

 

[Daniel50]

Another article indicating extremism is on the rise in Indonesia and it is now part of the political process. They are also using social media, to rally the troops ( even social media to the local Mosques). No, there is nothing happening, around extremism, in Indonesia.

 

[R Cameron]

The statue in Tuban seems to be more an issue of racial tension than religious (to my outside observation). Of course those two are often thoroughly mixed and confusing. I wonder, has there been any notable change in relations between "pribumi" Christian groups and "pribumi" Muslim groups?

 

[lifelongexpat]

Isn't Tuban the home of quite a few pesantrens that are known for radicalising those who study there?

 

[Asun]

The statue in Tuban seems to be more an issue of racial tension than religious (to my outside observation). Of course those two are often thoroughly mixed and confusing. I wonder, has there been any notable change in relations between "pribumi" Christian groups and "pribumi" Muslim groups?

How about relationship between Dyak and Madurese in Borneo?
https://www.economist.com/news/asia...n?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227

Indonesian Islamists open a new front in their war on tolerance
Another Christian governor of a Muslim-majority province faces protests

Jul 21st 2017| NGABANG, WEST KALIMANTAN
CORNELIS, the 63-year-old governor of West Kalimantan, a province in Indonesian Borneo, is relaxing in jeans and a stained white vest at a table piled with krupuk crackers and other local snacks. Portraits of the governor and his wife posing with prize-winning vegetables (both are keen gardeners) decorate the walls of the family home in Ngabang, a town in the hills four hours’ drive from Pontianak, the provincial capital. But so do crucifixes and Christian figurines—and it is Mr Cornelis’s religion, more than anything else, that has made him the latest lightning rod for the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), an Islamist vigilante group.
...

 

[fastpitch17]

How about relationship between Dyak and Madurese in Borneo?
https://www.economist.com/news/asia...n?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227

And the Dyak will not be marginalized. They don't mess around. There will be bloodshed. They have a strong relationship with their part of the Earth and will defend their beliefs and ways more fiercely than any other group in Indonesia. If it gets ugly there, I think it safe to say the muslim percentage will be going down.

 

[R Cameron]

How about relationship between Dyak and Madurese in Borneo?
https://www.economist.com/news/asia...n?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227

Interesting article. It seems that conflict has been going on for some time and is perhaps as much or more about suku and immigration than religion.


From that article:

Such talk is especially alarming in Kalimantan, where thousands were killed in fighting (pictured) between Dayaks and Muslim migrants from the island of Madura between 1996 and 2001. Attackers beheaded their enemies and even ate their organs in ghastly rituals. Back then, the Dayaks allied themselves with the Malays, a Muslim ethnic group, suggesting that the conflict was not about religion. But these days the dividing line seems to be primarily between Christians and Muslims.

I don't know that the evidence supports that last line. The conflict between Christian Dayak and Muslim immigrants has already been going on, is it now more divided on religious lines because of less support from Malays?