Prof Azyumardi Azra, a Muslim intellectual and former rector of the Islamic State University in South Jakarta, who spoke about a mass Islamic rally that was held on August 12 in Jakarta’s main stadium, Sunni group Hisbut Tahrir (Liberation Party), a pan-Islamic movement founded in Jerusalem in 1953 with about a million followers around the world which is banned in many Muslim countries but is tolerated in Denmark, organizes a pro-Caliphate pro-Sharia mega rally in Jakarta simply regarded as propaganda by political elite and that such event do not reflect the day-to-day problems most Indonesian Muslims have to deal with, reported on August 14, 2007.
Most of the population is far from being concerned about whether Islamic law should be introduced or not. The event saw the participation of at least 80,000 people from around the world who met to express their support for a universal Caliphate and Sharia. For some analysts ‘Hisbut Tahrir’ wants to become a political party to run in the next 2009 presidential elections.
