Jakarta:Â Thousands of Indonesians took to the streets on Friday, demanding the arrest of Jakarta's Chinese Christian governor in a mass demonstration that was largely peaceful despite the massive turnout.
Muslim hardliners want Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known as Ahok, to be jailed for allegedly insulting the Koran.
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Jakarta protest: thousands demand governor's arrest
Indonesia correspondent reports Jewel Topsfield outside the largest mosque in South-East Asia on Friday evening, where thousands of muslims are demanding the arrest of Jakarta's Chinese Christian governor.
About 20,000 police and military personnel secured the site of the demonstration in Central Jakarta amid fears it would be hijacked by extremists keen to foment violence.
"Arrest and try Ahok and his cronies dead or alive," read a sign suspended from the mosque.
Several embassies, including those from Australia and the US, warned their citizens to stay away from the protests, and some schools in the capital closed.
But there were no reports of violence despite the huge numbers of demonstrators, which CNN reported police had put at 200,000.
Ahok is being investigated by police for alleged blasphemy, after he claimed voters had been deceived by his opponents who attacked him using a verse from the Koran.
Some Islamic groups had urged voters not to re-elect Ahok on the basis of verse 51 from the fifth sura or chapter of the Koran, al-Ma'ida, which some interpret as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim.
Ahok, who earlier said he would spend Friday campaigning in urban villages known as kampungs, has apologised for the offence caused by his comments.
Dr Ratman, who goes by only one name and whose community house Rumah Amanah Rakyat prepared thousands of meals for protesters, and coordinated 50 ambulances, said if the president did not ask the police to arrest Ahok, he should "step down like Suharto".Â
It is estimated more than 1000 people died in 1998 riots which began as a protest against the Suharto regime but often targeted ethnic Chinese, looting and burning their shops.
"People will not accept it if Ahok is free. He has insulted Islam and Islam is our belief. The best thing is for the President [Joko Widodo] to instruct the police to arrest Ahok before the worst happens," Dr Ratman told Fairfax Media.
"The President looks like he is protecting Ahok. Who is Ahok? What has he done for this country? Nothing."
Jakarta had been on tenterhooks in the days leading up to the protest, which has ignited ugly anti-Chinese sentiment throughout the country.
Agah, from Cakung in East Jakarta, said he attended the rally to defend Islam and protest against religious defamation. He said according to Islamic law the punishment for religious defamation was stoning.
"We do not apply Islamic law so he must be legally processed with a minimum imprisonment of 10 years," Agah said.
Helicopters chakk-chakked over head as tens of thousands of protesters marched from Istiqlal Mosque towards the presidential palace in Jakarta.
At times it was impossible to move as the streets heaved with people.
Demonstrators sang: "Hang Ahok, Hang Ahok, do it now" - to the tune of a popular birthday song urging that the cake be cut now.
The governor had this week told rally organizers they were welcome to protest as long as they didn't trample on the street gardens.Â
"Don't step on the gardens, step on Ahok," yelled one man.
They brandished signs saying: "We love the police - punish the man who insults the Koran."
A presidential spokesman said President Jokowi had ordered his chief security minister Wiranto and state secretary to receive 25 representatives at the Palace.
The president himself had spent the day working as usual, receiving two ministers in the morning and then inspecting the progress of the airport train in the afternoon.
In the absence of any violent incidents, television coverage of the demonstation reverted to colour stories, such as a 35 per cent increase in the profit turned by street vendors.
Demonstrators organised a team of volunteers to clean up the rubbish tossed in the streets.
Ian Wilson, from the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University, said it was important to consider some of the context of the protests. He said since taking office as governor in 2014, Ahok had presided over one of the most aggressive eviction campaigns in the modern history of the city.
"What many have failed to consider, or simply ignored, is the massive groundswell of anger and resentment generated by this policy regime. It has spread far beyond the tens of thousands directly impacted through extended family, friends, neighbours and social, cultural and work networks," he wrote in New Mandala.
"This anger has, unsurprisingly, sought to find avenues of expression and amelioration."
"Reliable statistics on the numbers directly affected are difficult to come by. However, reports compiled by the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation estimate that more than 16,000 overwhelmingly poor and working class families have been displaced in the past two years alone. Only 30 per cent have been offered any alternative accommodation, the social and economic impacts of which have been devastating."
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