Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, announced in December the deployment of 192,000 security personnel to safeguard Christians, and other minor-ities, during the Christmas period. This is a heightened time of risk for Islamic extremist attacks.
Authorities on the south-east Asian archipelago, where Christians make up at least 15% of the population, posted police officers and navy personnel across the country, including the predominantly Christian provinces of Papua and West Papua, to secure celebrations held over Christmas and on New Year’s Eve.
Intelligence led increase
The force is larger than the 167,000 personnel deployed last year. A police spokesman said: ‘Based on the intelligence data, there are potential risks … so we are taking preventative measures.’
He added: ‘As many as 10,000 personnel will be deployed in Jakarta alone.’
Influence of Islam
Until a generation or so ago, Muslims and Christians lived peaceably as equals in Indonesia. However, since the 1980s the role and impact of Islam in public life has dramatically increased.
This can especially be seen in the semi-autonomous province of Aceh where local authorities have implemented sharia law, and in the blasphemy case brought in 2017 against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Christian former governor of Jakarta, known as Ahok.
