India-Indonesia hope to resolve differences; Anti-India protests slow down in Jakarta

In this write up by senior journalist Smita Sharma, she talks about the budding tension between India and Indonesia following Delhi riots and CAA and how the two counties are hopeful of ironing out the differences. Various parts of Indonesia, which is a Muslim majority nation, witnessed protests against India over recent incidents of communal violence. It is also being hoped that New Delhi would engage with certain Islamic organisations within Indonesia to address concerns surrounding Indian minority Muslims through dialogue.

Hyderabad: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic that the world is grappling with, India and Indonesia are hoping to iron out differences that emerged the past few weeks in bilateral ties. Indian Ambassador in Jakarta Pradeep Kumar Rawat was summoned by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry a fortnight ago to raise concerns in wake of the Delhi riots which has claimed lives of at least 50 people, many of them Muslims.

Indonesia has also witnessed big protests outside the Indian embassy in Jakarta and Indian Consulate in Medan during the past two weeks, organised by hardline Islamic organisations like FPI, GNPF and PA212.

An earlier joint press statement signed by the chairpersons of these three outfits said, ‘Urge the Indian government to revoke the Citizenship Act which has been used by Hindu extremist groups as an instrument to carry out various acts of execution against Indian Muslims’.

However Indonesian sources have clarified that the Indian envoy was summoned only to ‘convey messages’ of concern and Jakarta believes India will be able to address tensions surrounding its domestic issues. “Civil society organisations and many other organisations had a message and those messages were conveyed (to the Indian government).

People have concerns, but the Indonesian government is confident we will overcome these as we are both pluralistic, democratic countries,”said an Indonesian official.

It is learnt that while concerns were building up following the anti CAA and NRC protests across India for some time, the loss of lives in Delhi riots which saw Mohammad Zubair emerge as a face, a muslim man targeted and beaten reportedly for his beard and skull cap by a crowd of right wing nationalists, acted as a catalyst for the Indonesian Diplomatic action to calm agitated voices.

But sources are now hopeful that come Friday the protests would have lost steam in Jakarta. This comes after some 1100 police personnel were deployed outside the Indian embassy and traffic outside diverted through barricades last Friday in unprecedented security measures in the country for any foreign mission barring the American embassy which has faced protests in the past over the Palestinian issue.

It is also being hoped that New Delhi would engage with certain Islamic organisations within Indonesia like the most influential MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) which so far has not taken to the streets, to address concerns surrounding Indian minority Muslims through dialogue.

However the MUI in a recent scathing statement did urge the United Nations to send a fact finding team to India to implement strict measures for minorities in accordance with international laws and conventions. The statement called CAA as discriminatory and also urged the Indian government to respect UNSC resolutions on fate of Jammu and Kashmir including plebiscite.The statement further threatened boycott of products from India by Indonesian Muslims and asking its government to cut ties with New Delhi if the situation remained the same against Indian Muslims.

In the past few years Indonesia has been ‘sensitive’ and ‘sympathetic’ of India on the Kashmir issue in the OIC (Organisation Of Islamic Countries) , supported the UNSC listing of terrorist Masood Azhar, was among the first countries to condemn the Pulwama terror strikes, and Jakarta’s official reactions to developments and protests in India have so far been ‘nuanced’ and ‘measured’ , stress sources.

The Indian Ambassador in Jakarta is also expected to meet with the Vice President this week who is a member of the MUI for discussions that could include sensitive developments. India and Indonesia had initiated an Inter-Faith Dialogue in October 2018 which was to meet annually but has not. Sources hope that the hosting of the next round of the dialogue by India this year could play an important role in calming religious tensions in bilateral ties.

However as of now with Coronavirus wreaking havoc globally, all bilateral mechanisms between India-Indonesia stand postponed including scheduled Foreign office consultations and the proposed Second security dialogue at level of NSA Ajit Doval and the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for political, security and human rights.

Focus remains on engagement through respective embassies for now.“The Indonesian foreign policy aim continues to be strengthening relations with India,” added the official source.

Meanwhile sources have dismissed some Indian media reports that alleged an Indonesian NGO ACT (Aksi Cepat Tanggap) of funnelling money for Delhi riots citing intelligence sources. While the ACT has issued a formal denial, sources added that the issue has not been raised or any evidence not provided to substantiate allegations through official channels.