Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo plans to build an underground tunnel connecting the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral Church in Central Jakarta which are located adjacent to each other. The proposed construction will be carried out during renovations to the Istiqlal Mosque which were reviewed by Widodo on Friday February 7.

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Darmadi Sasongko – A protest action on Thursday August 15 by the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) in the East Java city of Malang has ended in a riot with protesters and a rival group pelted each other with stones near the Rajabali intersection on Jl Kahuripan.

Jakarta – The creation of NKRI bersyariah – the Unitary Islamic State of the Republic of Indonesia – one of the recommendations of the 4th Ijtimak Ulama or assembly of Islamic clerics has attracted controversy and opposition.

Christoforus Ristianto, Jakarta – Data and facts had little effect on voting patterns in the 2019 presidential election. According to Indikator Politik Indonesia Executive Director Burhanudin Muhtadi it was identity politics using a strategy of post-truth which was actually more effective.

Wahyu Setiawan Nugroho, Yogyakarta – At least three different groups of demonstrators joined the commemoration of International Labour Day in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta, which was centred along the Malioboro shopping district and the zero kilometre point at the central post office.

The following is a statement by the Yogyakarta International Women’s Day (IWD) Committee on the University of North Sumatra’s (USU) censoring of the Suara USU (Voice of USU) student press.

Luqman Hakim, Yogyakarta – An alliance of women’s groups in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a peaceful action at the zero kilometre point in front of the central post office on Friday March 8 to commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD) 2019.

Oktaviani – The “sumpah pocong” challenge thrown up by Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Wiranto to former Army Strategic Reserves Command (Green Berets) commander Major General Kivlan Zein is inappropriate.

Juli Hantoro, Jakarta – The director of the Jakarta Alimat Network (Indonesian Family Justice Movement), Maria Ulfah Anshor, says that opposition to the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) is ridden with the politicisation of religion to take advantage of the momentum of the elections.

Surabaya – A grouping of civil society organisations calling themselves the “Surabaya Solidarity Society Against Remission for the Murderer of Journalist AA Gde Bagus Narendra Prabangsa” have sent a letter to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Jakarta – Indonesian Institute for Science (LIPI) researcher Amin Mudzakir has revealed that that based on the results of a LIPI survey in 2018, there are three regions where there is a high-level of acceptance of fake news or hoaxes.

Muslimin – A survey by the Denny JA Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) has concluded that Islamic ormas (mass organisations) are beginning to abandon the Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno presidential ticket following the 212 Reunion rally in Jakarta on December 2.

Jakarta – Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) political observer Hermawan Sulistyo believes that promoting the achievements of Suharto’s New Order (Orba) regime in the 2019 presidential elections will not prove attractive to the millennial generation.

Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – The coordinating spokesperson for the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno election campaign team, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, says that God Almighty and militancy are sufficient capital to win the 2019 presidential election.

Rabul Sawal, Ternate – The Ternate Student Struggle Centre for National Liberation (Pembebasan) collective commemorated National Farmers Day (HTN) which falls on September 24 by organising activities at several higher education campuses in North Maluku.

Around 80 students from the Alliance of Student Executive Councils (ABEM) in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang held an action at the Jl. Pemuda traffic circle on the afternoon of Thursday March 22.

Hundreds of students and local residents in Sukoharjo, Central Java, held a protest action in front of the Sukoharjo regional police headquarters (Mapolres) on Thursday March 22.

Hendra Friana – “I was handcuffed and forced into a vehicle, and all before being shown an arrest warrant”.

22-year-old Muhammad Hisbun Payu related this story to Tirto by phone from the Central Java police headquarters (Mapolda) on Monday March 5.

The Muhammadiyah Youth Greater Aceh regional board (PDPM) in cooperation with the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) held a seminar on the theme The Dangers of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) in Society on Saturday February 10 at the Aceh Library Archives auditorium.