Published April 8th, 2006 by Future Atlas
Islamizing Indonesia
Indonesian poltics are “increasingly dominated by fundamentalists” seeking to “purify the nation,” the Sunday Times reports.
The fundamentalists are trying to legislate strict rules on clothing and public affection. Local governments have already begun to imprison people for offenses such as praying in Bahasa Indonesia rather than Arabic, or arguing that non-Muslims can go to heaven.
This could strain relations between the Muslim majority and the roughly 30 million Indonesians who practice other faiths, as well as worsening the relationship between the central government and regions such as Papua and Bali. Murmurs of Balinesian separatism could grow louder.
Others suggest that this process cannot go too far, as Indonesia is “overwhelmingly moderate” — but it does not take a majority to restructure a society.