Holywings case shows political appeal of conservatism persists

Rendy Wadipalapa (Jakarta Post/Opinion/1 July 2022)

Conservatism has been a recurring theme in public discourse. A couple of days ago, Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan revoked 12 Holywings outlets after the ‘Muhammad-Maria’ controversy. 

This decision was not a political surprise. In recent years, there has been a growing invocation of conservatism through religious symbols, particularly Islamic symbols, which constantly maintained to attract the Muslim community as the biggest portion of potential voters in the election (Bruinessen 2013; Fossati, 2019). In this sense, we must see that the act of Governor Anies was not only a sign of a belated state’s response but also a worrying trend of the persistent conservative politics in the heart of the nation. More alarmingly, the debates of revoking business licenses had been conflated with the religious mission and a sacred war against the demonic industry. 

Although it showed a reactionary response, the government’s act is ‘reasonable’, more importantly, since Indonesia has struggled to calm its conservative tendency for years. Holywings’ case reminds the public of the blasphemous governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) in 2016, which now is considered a crucial checkpoint to stage conservative politics. Both Ahok and Holywings shared the commonalities: their controversy revived an emotive politics on the basis of religious values and a complex calculation to reframe those figures as the people’s enemy.

With these backdrops, thus, I offer to see the display of a conservative streak from two perspectives. First, to examine the fragile communities against the quasi-tyrannic Blasphemy act, and second, to connect the recent overblown elites’ reaction to the 2024 election. 

See my full article on here