Why Indonesia's new Christian police chief is no game-changer in a Muslim-majority nation

Four years ago, public protests involving hundreds of thousands of Indonesian Muslims succeeded in pressuring the country's judiciary into convicting former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama - a Chinese Indonesian Christian also known as Ahok - for blasphemy against Islam. Since then, Islamic identity politics has enjoyed increased stature in Indonesian politics.

So it was welcome news when President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, recently appointed Listyo Sigit, a Christian by faith, as Indonesia's new police chief. Some commentators hailed it as Jokowi's vote of confidence in pluralism.

But the circumstances surrounding Sigit's appointment cast doubts on whether it was indeed a deliberate act affirming minority rights in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. The Indonesian constitution disavows discrimination based on religion but its practice has historically been sketchy.

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When former president Suharto appointed Benny Moerdani, a Roman Catholic, as commander of the Armed Forces in 1983, he did so to reward his loyalty. Moerdani kindled much rancour in Muslim quarters as he acted as the president's confidante for the next several years.

It was whispered that Moerdani, along with other prominent Catholics such as the Wanandi brothers and then-finance minister Radius Prawiro, were part of a secret Catholic cabal, headed by a Dutch Jesuit priest, Father Josephus Beek.

Almost 40 years on, not much has changed in how the Muslim majority often feel insecure about their place, except that democratisation means they are freer to voice the sentiments considered a taboo under Suharto.

Admittedly, Jokowi did face some pressure in his sole nomination of Sigit as police chief. Muhyiddin Junaidi, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), commented that "it would be strange if Indonesia had a non-Muslim" top cop.

Nevertheless, opposition to Sigit's candidacy was minimal, given that the country's largest Muslim mass organisations, Nadhatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, had openly given their blessings. Neither did any political party in Parliament object to it.

General Listyo Sigit Prabowo is sworn in as the new police chief. Photo: AFP

In all likelihood, it was Sigit's close personal relationship with the president that was the decisive factor in his rise. They can trace their friendship to the time when both served together in Solo in the early 2010s; the former as the local police chief and the latter as mayor. After his election as president in 2014, Jokowi personally picked Sigit to be his aide de camp, a post he remained in until 2016.

Such aides have traditionally been trusted confidantes of Indonesian rulers, and the post is deemed prestigious in that its holders are almost always guaranteed swift career advancement. Budi Gunawan, who now heads the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and was deputy police chief between 2015 and 2016, had been an adjutant to former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Following his tenure as presidential aide de camp, Sigit quickly rose through the ranks, first as provincial police chief and then head of the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), another prestigious post which has seen many previous occupants eventually become police chief.

During his confirmation hearing in Parliament, Sigit promised that as police chief he would make it mandatory for all Muslim police officers to study Kitab Kuning (Yellow Book), a religious codex usually studied by Muslims affiliated with NU.

In what was clearly an overzealous attempt to placate Muslim sensibilities, Sigit may have compromised his subordinates' religious rights by favouring NU over other Muslim groups. Muhammadiyah, for one, questioned his plan, albeit diplomatically.

His well-intended gaffe notwithstanding, the need to assuage the nerves of the Muslim majority is all too familiar to non-Muslim Indonesians.

President Joko Widodo (R) swears in General Listyo Sigit Prabowo. Photo: AFP

Hence Sigit's appointment is neither unique nor groundbreaking. Indonesia has not always had Muslim police chiefs. Under Suharto, Indonesia also had a Christian police chief in Widodo Budidarmo.

Another lesser known non-Muslim to hold the post was Indonesia's first police chief, Soekanto Tjokrodiatmodjo. He openly practised Kejawen, an ancient Javanese belief system incorporating elements of Hinduism and nature-ancestor worship.

Tjokrodiatmodjo became a Freemason in 1954 and proceeded to become the country's second and last grandmaster. His spiritual activities, however, proved to be his undoing.

A group of his immediate subordinates tried to undermine him by telling former president Sukarno that he was "more interested in mysticism than being the police chief". In 1959, Sukarno dismissed Tjokrodiatmodjo and outlawed Freemasonry as part of his sweeping anti-Western purge three years later.

History shows that members of Indonesian minorities have always been sidelined when it comes to top government posts. Jokowi's current right-hand man Luhut Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, could for example easily have made it to the position of vice-president at least, if only he were a Muslim.

Sigit's appointment, though a positive move for minority representation, is by no means a game-changer. His loyalty to the president remains his greatest asset; whereas his faith, like minority rights in Indonesia, is an afterthought.

Johannes Nugroho is a writer and political analyst from Surabaya, Indonesia

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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