The Jakarta Metropolitan Police have received a letter of notification from the organizing committee of the "Tawheed Defending" rally, the Jakarta police spokesman, Sen.Coms.Argo Yuwono, said here on Friday.
The demonstrators plan to stage their rally for protesting the flag-burning incident in front of the Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Ministry, he said.
For millions of Muslims around the world, tawhid (tawheed) meaning `oneness (of God)` is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam and the religion`s central and single-most important concept, upon which a Muslim`s entire faith rests.
"The rally will start at 01.00 pm local time," Argo Yuwono said, adding that the Jakarta Metropolitan Police are ready for securing the peaceful rally.
He predicted that there would be around 1,000 community members joining the protest in which they would gather around the Patung Kuda (Horse Statues) traffic circle on Jalan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, before marching to the ministry office.
Meanwhile, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)`s youth wing, Gerakan Pemuda Ansor (GP Ansor) deployed around 2,000 members to secure the NU and GP Ansor buildings in Central Jakarta.
The black flag containing the Arabic writing of Tawheed was burned by several members of NU`s Barisan Ansor Serbaguna (Banser) youth wing during the National Santri (Islamic students) Day in Garut, West Java Province, on October 22, 2018.
The burners were quoted by local media as saying that the flag that they burned was that of Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamic organization that the Indonesian Government had banned.
The police have summoned three Banser members for investigating the flag-burning incident, which has triggered massive protests in several cities in Indonesia, including Garut, Bogor, and Yogyakarta this week.
The incident was condemned by various Islamic clerics arguing that the flag containing the writing of Tawheed was commonly used by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
In response to this flag-burning incident, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has called on the people across Indonesia to stay calm and not to get provoked by any misleading information on it.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Secretary General, Anwar Abbas, urged Banser to apologize for the incident.
Reporting by Taufik Ridwan
Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Otniel Tamindael
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
