On Friday, October 14, 2016, many Moslems flock to several main roads in Jakarta to protest Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama aka Ahok as they claim the city’s ethnic Chinese and Christian governor has done “blasphemy”. One of Business Law Bina Nusantara University students send us her article regarding this issue. The point of view and opinions in this article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Business Law Department of Bina Nusantara University.

AHOK AS A PERSON OF TRIPLE MINORITY

By YURIKE YUKI[1]

I am greatly saddened by the fact that our society has lost its common sense. Just because Ahok is a triple minority (Chinese, Christian, and not the son of Jakarta), a tiny bit mistakes he made during his speech in Kepulauan Seribu few months ago suddenly went viral on Social Media and gain protests from the Muslims who feel offended by his statement. In part of his speech, Ahok said, “In your inner hearts, Bapak/Ibu may not vote for me, because [you have been] lied to by [using] Surah al-Maidah, verse 51, etc. […] So, if you cannot vote for me because you are afraid of being condemned to hell you do not need to feel uneasy as you are being fooled. It is alright.”[2]

They make him look like as if he is a convicted felon. They labeled him as “the enemy of Islam”, “defamation towards religion”, “the heathen Chinese“ and many more. Maybe they forgot, while Ahok was working hard taking care and serving Jakarta, Suryadharma Ali, our Former Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister, was found guilty of self-enrichment by deliberately mishandling state funds that were allocated to the hajj pilgrimage program. So, who is exactly the true enemy of Islam?

Now they are marching, conveying hatred and malice among us. Anyhow, good or bad, right or wrong, fair or despotic, the goal is, Ahok must somehow go down. They say this is a sacred mission that must be done in order to defend their religion. Sir, I beg your pardon, with all due respect, never brings religion in your dirty politics, for it is a toxic mixture. If religion is being detached here and there for political benefits, where will the sanctity of the religion remain?

Let us show the world that Indonesian people are not intolerant, bigoted, and narrow-minded. Let us show them, that Bhinneka Tunggal Ika still exists as our nation’s motto.

Quoting Antoine De Saint-Exupery “he who is different from me does not improvers me – he enriches me” meaning that diversity causes no loss to us. What truly a loss is sometimes our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. While on the contrary, it bring colors to our life as a human being. (***)

[1] She is student university at law department, BINUS University. She is one of the students who are active and have a very satisfactory achievement. She is also involved in the following competitions in the academic field. Also a pioneer in the establishment of a moot court at the Department of Business Law BINUS.

[2] Callistasia Anggun Wijaya, “Ahok apologizes to Muslims for alleged defamation”, www.thejakartapost.com accessed October 14^th, 2016