Race, Islam and Power: Ethnic and Religious Violence in Post-Suharto Indonesia
Andreas Harsono
Monash University Publishing

Lead singer of rock band Slank, shirt unbuttoned, wearing a red bandana, gripped his microphone and belted out ballads onstage. Ulama, religious scholars, in Middle Eastern attire paced in the wings like harried producers. On the roof a pawang hujan, rain shaman, warded off thunderstorms. And the crowd overfilling the 80,000-seat Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta’s biggest stadium, began a series of Mexican waves. Hands flew into the air: of santri Muslims in white caps and Chinese Indonesians, people from the Javanese hinterland and islands far to the east, all singing along while waving red-and-white Indonesian flags. It seemed, in the moment, like an inspired demonstration of inclusive nationalism.