us conservatism, human rights activists warned.
Guspardi Gaus, member of the parliament’s Commission II that deliberated the provincial laws with the government, toldthat the new law would not “deny the rights” of religious minority groups in the province. “At the beginning [of the law’s deliberation] somebody requested that the West Sumatra province be granted a special status like Aceh, but the House of Representatives and the government agreed that the law will not change the name of the province,” Guspardi said.
“That statement is sneaky, it is basically Islamic Sharia,” said Andreas Harsono, researcher at Human Rights Watch, referring to West Sumatra’s now state-recognised philosophy. “It is nonsense. It’s basically just another reason to use Islam for political gains.” Of 34 provinces in Indonesia, Harsono estimated at least 15 Muslim-majority provinces could lean towards Islamic conservatism in the future, such as Riau, South Sulawesi, and Gorontalo.
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