Hardliners threaten tolerance in Indonesia

Photos and captions by AFP and by Yenny Herawati for Khabar Southeast Asia

2014-08-08

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Worshippers read from the Qur'an at Jakarta's Istiqlal Grand Mosque on May 4th, as part of "One Day One Juz", a programme that encourages Muslims to live by Islam's holy book. More than 90% of Indonesia's 250 million people are moderate Muslims. [Adek Berry/AFP]

Local government security personnel board up the entrance to an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bekasi district in April, 2013. Tensions between Sunni, Shia and Ahmadiyah Muslims are growing in Indonesia. [AFP]

Sharia police in Banda Aceh stop a motorcyclist (left) May 7th on suspicion of wearing tight jeans and appearing in public without a hijab. The regional government passed a bylaw late last year that could subject non-Muslims in Aceh to sharia law. [Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP]

Roman Catholics carry the cross for Good Friday mass at the Jakarta Cathedral on April 18th. Minority Christians have seen their places of worship closed or bulldozed due to religious intolerance. [Romeo Gacad/AFP]

A priest visits Julius Felicianus (right), director of Christian book publisher Galung Press, at his hospital bed in Yogyakarta. Julius was injured May 29th when a group of men in gamis attacked a Catholic gathering at his home in Sleman, Yogyakarta. [Yenny Herawati/Khabar]

Patrons watch a World Cup match at a Jakarta bar on June 29th. Despite threats from Muslim hardliner groups to raid bars during Ramadan, football fans continued to gather at nightspots to watch the tournament. [Stefanus Ian/AFP]