Tuesday (17/7), the Research, Publication, and Community Service Unit (UP3M) of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Fisipol) UGM held a seminar under the topic “Morality of Islam, Democracy, and the Market” at the East Seminar Room, Fisipol UGM. The seminar was carried out to disseminate results of research conducted by Professor Vedi Hadiz, a professor of Asian Studies at Melbourne University, along with Dr. Inaya Rakhmani, a lecturer of Communication study at Universitas Indonesia. Dr. Andi Rahman Alamsyah, a sociologist from Universitas Indonesia was also present in the seminar. As elaborated by the moderator, Dr. M. Najib Azca, a sociologist from UGM, the research focused on the 212 Defend Islam Rally which took place on December 2016 involving thousands of Islamic followers in Indonesia. The object of study was the participants of the Defend Islam Rally who demanded that the then Governor of Jakarta SCR, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok), be dismissed from his gubernatorial position and put on trial for committing an act of blasphemy against Islam, which was contained in his speech.
The seminar also highlighted that the rising trend of mass mobilization via modern means, namely online mobilization, is already at a stage that requires serious attention. Professor Vedy emphasized the need for further observation of modern political mobility with its mechanism that remains unknown to many. “We can observe this using the Muslim Cyber Army issue which is an extremely serious and systematic endeavor, and I also feel that there is still a need to analyze how the mechanism works and so on. But it is clear to me that it is a new means of political mobilization that is highly effective,” Professor Vedy stated.