In a surprising turn of events, the man who accused Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or "Ahok" of blasphemy is now himself facing blasphemy charges.
Rizieq Shihab, an Imam and the founder and leader of the hardline Muslim group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) that led the massive protests against Gov. Ahok, is dealing with a string of police reports filed against him for allegedly insulting the Christian faith.
"If God had a son, then who was the midwife?" Rizieq was recorded as saying in a speech he gave on Christmas Day. The video was posted on Twitter.
The Indonesian Catholic Students Association (PMKRI) filed a charge against him last week, saying he violated Article 156, section A of the Constitution.
"We felt insulted and hurt by the hate statement from Habib Rizieq. It mirrored the lack of tolerance towards diversity in Indonesia, which has been nourished by our ancestors and by us," the group's leader, Angelo Wake Kako, said.
He emphasized that Indonesians should respect other religions.
The group also reported the two individuals who uploaded the video on Twitter.
The Jakarta police said it will study the case to see if Rizieq did commit a crime.
Aside from the charge filed by PMKRI, the Student Peace Institute, a group of Muslim students who advocate for tolerance and religious harmony in Indonesia, also filed a police report against Rizieq for his alleged hate speech.
The report said Rizieq's speech was in violation of Article 156 and the Law on Electronic Information and Transactions, citing the recorded video as evidence.
Doddy Abdallah, Student Peace Institute executive director, explained that their complaint was different from the one filed by the PMKRI because they are Muslims themselves. However, as Muslims, they refused to tolerate Rizieq's mockery of another religion's beliefs because what he said "has the potential of destroying religious harmony in Indonesia."
"We come as Muslim students, as we are studying in one of Jakarta's Islamic universities," Abdallah said. "It is totally inappropriate in our perspective, to claim he is an ulema [Islamic scholar] with Muslim clothing and mentioning words that offend other religion's teachings."
Another group called Rumah Pelita, an interfaith student group, also filed a report against Rizieq for "mocking the Christian belief" in his Dec. 25 speech.
Slamet Abidin, the group's spokesman, said Indonesia, being a nation of laws, must promote religious diversity and tolerance. He said Rizieq should not "recklessly mock the beliefs of others" and should not use teachings from other religions to mock what other people believe.
Rizieq is also facing a police report filed by Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno, for damaging her father's reputation.
