Amid global fears about the spread of Islamic militancy, the last thing anyone wants to hear about is creeping fundamentalism in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation. But these fears have become more palpable in recent weeks. Indonesia’s highest Muslim body has issued religious edicts banning mixed marriages, religious pluralism and interfaith prayers. A series of attacks has forced the closure of Christian churches. And in the province of Aceh, where the government has reached an agreement with the pro-independence movement to end a long-running insurgency, a woman was publicly flogged and more than a dozen men have been caned in the past three months for breaching newly introduced Shariah, or Islamic law. Some Indonesians are worried about the trend this pattern of events suggests. As many as seven districts in Indonesia, from West Java to South Sulawesi and Madura, already have enforced some kind of Shariah, something they can do under Indonesia’s wide-ranging autonomy law. Full Story
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