Speaker 1:

(singing)

Narrator:

A community prayer meeting in the suburb of Dali, the largest brothel zone in the world, and the largest Islamic nation on earth. Dali is a Surabaya Institution, serving the port area of the East Javanese city as it has for centuries.

Within the area, residents and prostitutes live side by side, and these women, fresh from their prayers, travel home through its seedy heart.

Dali is testament to Indonesian Islam's tolerance, but an increasingly vocal group of Islamic purists see both their religion and their culture under attack not only from prostitution but from an onslaught of 21st century global culture, presenting a daily challenge to the faith of almost 200 million Indonesia Muslims.

Commercial:

Beauty, Polytron.

Narrator:

But for the first time, Indonesia has an Islamic cleric for president, Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur. He's long been considered the voice of moderation and tolerance, but his less tolerant critics think Islam has been sidelined for too long.

Darwin:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

[Darwin], who like many Indonesia's uses only one name, is the chairman of the Indonesian Islamic Youth Movement, but far from being supportive of the cleric now leading Indonesia, he's sceptical of Gus Dur's genuine commitment to Islam.

Darwin:

[foreign language] -the best among the best. The best among the worst- [foreign language].

Speaker 5:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

Gus Dur's election in October last year was seen as a compromise, a way of stabilising the volatile and fragmented nation. 85% of Indonesia's 220 million people are Islamic. The remainder, a mixture of Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist.

But there are deep divisions within the Muslim majority. The modernists, religious conservatives, are pitted against the more tolerant traditionalists who have incorporated Javanese values and culture and elements of ancient Hinduism into their beliefs.

The potential might of a united Islam has always worried Indonesian governments and the powerful armed forced, and with good reason, these guards belong to the NU paramilitary wing, Banser, an Islamic force of tens of thousands. Banser took part in a bloody charge against godless communism in 1965 in which more than a million Indonesians were killed.

More recently, thousands signed up to fight against Australian peacekeepers in East Timor. The Indonesian army is well aware that a force like this could rival its own authority.

Doctor [Andre Fayad] is a personal friend of the president. She sees a much more insidious danger looming, the smaller and increasingly radical fringe groups.

Dr. Fayad:

What I'm more worried about is all this talk, that anti-Christian talk, anti-Jewish, etc, and anti-Chinese, for that could have [inaudible] in fact on Indonesia itself. That is, for me, much more worrying.

Narrator:

And you think that is a push that could get stronger?

Dr. Fayad:

Oh, certainly.

Narrator:

Why?

Dr. Fayad:

Well, because a lot of people have interest in pushing these kinds of ideas.

Speaker 7:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

Friday prayers at the [Dewan Da'wah Islamiyah], the DDI, one of the more radical Islamic fringe groups Andre Fayad worries about.

Speaker 7:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

This was only one of many stories in a long sermon attacking Christians and Jews. Whether the story is true or not, these worshipers are clearly soaking up the hatred.

Speaker 7:

[foreign language].

Dr. Fayad:

They wonder why people are generally frightened of what they call "The Christianization of Indonesia," and this has become now a political issue that is being manipulated by political forces, and there, it's much more dangerous.

Narrator:

And no place is more dangerous right now than the Maluku Islands, where more than 2,000 people have been killed in clashes between Christians and Muslims. The provincial capital, Ambon, is a war zone and there seems no end in sight.

Dr. Rice:

What I'm worried most is the possibility of the spread of those who rise onto the conflicts between Muslims and Christians, not only in the Maluku Islands but also to the whole area of Indonesia, especially in Java.

Speaker 9:

(singing).

Narrator:

Dr. [Amyan Rice] the speaker of Indonesia's parliament, has emerged as a strident critic of the president and of what he believes is a lack of direction in his handling of the nation's escalating religious tensions.

It was said the military may have been behind it, trying to destabilise the country, and that is in fact what started the Ambon process, also.

Dr. Rice:

Yeah, to be very honest, I can buy this theory.

Narrator:

You can't, or ...?

Dr. Rice:

I can. Yeah. I mean, I'm willing to buy this theory because there is no other satisfactory explanation other than that.

Narrator:

Indeed, the president himself has blamed dark forces for the spread of violence to other parts of the archipelago, with riots having now enveloped Lombok, shutting down the tourist trade and driving foreigners away.

Troubles have also spread to Makassar in South Sulawesi, and now, into Central Java. If there's truth in the view that politics as well as the military is behind this sort of disturbance, then this man is well-positioned to be pulling the strings. His name crops up time and time again as a provocateur, Ahmad Soemargono.

Ahmad Seomargon:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

If Gus Dur is a moderate, then Ahmad Soemargono is his diametric opposite. His party is a small, but increasingly influential voice in both houses of parliament.

Soemargono is also the chairman of KISDI, the Indonesian Committee for World Islamic Solidarity, which has close links to the DDI radicals and has strongly backed calls for Jihad in Maluku.

Ahmad Seomargon:

[foreign language]- Way of life, [foreign language].

Narrator:

In the central axis, the powerful Muslim coalition which saw Gus Dur elected over Megawati Sukarnoputri as president. Ahmad Soemargono is, without question, a major power broker. His successful lobbying won the party's candidate Yusril Mahendra an important cabinet position, Minister for Law and Legislation.

Mahendra:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

But his mentor, Ahmad Soemargono, is not so far from the qualities Mahendra so admires. He, too, has written a book, "Israeli Zionist Nonsense," and he's an accomplished communicator, lecturing in mosques including one he's built in his home. Ahmad Soemargono would like to see Indonesia adopt an Iranian or Sudanese model of Islam, but the message he most likes to communicate is his vehement opposition to the secular vice president, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Ahmad Seomargon:

Megawati's environment, it is so many people allergic with the Islam. Islamophobia. We are worries because it's a woman who's very weak. We know well what the woman is, sometimes you see that they are doing to Atambua to cry. She's going to any place to cry. This is a woman, in fact. That's why we better choose Gus Dur last time. No alternative.

Narrator:

While the anti-Megawati rhetoric is common to most Muslim-based parties, hard line extremists for the moment remain in the minority. Greg [Feely] is one of the few observers who believes the modernist fanatics are not a threat to a pluralist Indonesia.

Greg:

Yeah, there's certainly a more puritan streak. I want a more exact ... I want Islam that's practised here to be exactly as it's set out in the Quran, and I think, yes, we should expect if these people get more political power that they will be much more strict about things like alcohol, styles, and disco techs, and use of and wearing of western clothes and western material coming into Indonesia, but it's not necessarily meaning that they're more hostile or turning Indonesia into an Islamic state.

Narrator:

But not all Muslims agree with that. These young men are preparing to defend Islam from aggression, wherever it may come from.

Speaker 13:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

They're punishing lessons of attack and self control are taking place in Ahmad Soemargono's house, the headquarters of the Committee for World Islamic Solidarity.

Speaker 14:

[foreign language].

Speaker 15:

(singing)

Narrator:

On the other side of Jakarta, Christians gather in the [Ke-tep-on] Church to light candles in remembrance of an attack by Muslims a year ago in which their building was torn down and set alight.

Speaker 15:

(singing)

Narrator:

Tonight, they lay the first brick to rebuild their house of worship, but Father [Kumala], like many here, knows the attack on his church was part of a wider, well-organised political strategy.

Father Kumala:

[foreign language].

He came to overcome violence.

Narrator:

If there's any hope of controlling such organised, politicised violence, Father Kumala says it lies in the strategies of the moderate president Gus Dur, a man he believes was sent to Indonesia by God to bring calm and peace.

Father Kumala:

[foreign language].

[foreign language].

Narrator:

But so far, those prayers have gone unanswered. In the popular resort town of Puncak, an hour's drive from Jakarta, local clerics worked crowds into a frenzy and they ransacked hotels and disco techs suspected of prostitution and drug use. This security man says he ran for his life when he saw thousands of young men carrying pointed bamboo sticks descend on the resort. The owner is rebuilding, but this time a supermarket will replace the disco tech.

And while the brothels in Dali continues to operate, a similar location in Jakarta that has been open for almost three decades closed for good three months ago at the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan. The closure follows years of protests by Muslim residents and points to Islams increasing political force.

Dr. Rice:

I mean, in their eyes, those are very immoral and they attack the centres not because they want to ... I mean, clash at Christianity but they just want to drive away those immoral activities from the neighbourhood. I think that is very clear.

Narrator:

But the Islamic opposition's most cohesive action so far was against Gus Dur's announcement that he wanted to establish ties with Israel. Tens of thousands took to the streets in protest.

Protest, Unison:

[foreign language].

Father Kumala:

[foreign language].

Speaker 18:

[foreign language].

Father Kumala:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

Just who stands to win in this violent power play isn't clear just yet, but hard liners like Ahmad Soemargono continue to deny any involvement.

Ahmad Seomargon:

I don't know, maybe it's misunderstood about me. Maybe I was weak with my belief about Islam. I myself, as their enemy, must destroy the bad enemy. Maybe it's political, political.

Narrator:

Do you think it has something to do with your close friendship with former General Prabowo?

Ahmad Seomargon:

Yeah, maybe also because Prabowo was famous last time when he had power in the military. He always says it looks like the anti-China, looks like anti-Christian, yeah? Maybe this and Prabowo is danger for them because it's military and I close with him, maybe. This is the strategy.

Narrator:

Gus Dur's tenure as president will not be easy. Already, splits and tensions are appearing in his cabinet, not helped by his challenging those who steered him into power, the Muslim Coalition and the Armed Forces. There's a perception that Gus Dur is biting that hand that fed him, and concerns that behaviour like that may trigger a vicious payback.

Darwin:

[foreign language].

Dr. Rice:

The easiest thing is to destabilise the country by burning mosques and churches, by playing one group against another, so it is the cheapest and easiest way to destabilise the country and to bring in the new era of total reforms.

Speaker 19:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

Already, groups like the Dewan Da'wah Islamiyah, the DDI, are even daring to challenge the state ideology [Pancasila], a sacrosanct pillar of Indonesia's nationhood designed in part to safe guard religious harmony.

Speaker 19:

[foreign language].

Narrator:

The tensions can't be bottled up for much longer. A battle with undoubtedly be fought between those who want Indonesia to remain a pluralist nation run by the rule of law and those who feel the moment has arrived for Islam to claim its rightful place at the centre of the political stage.

Speaker 20:

(singing)