On Friday, August 7, 2026, the Executive Director of PUSKAPOL UI, Dr. Hurriyah, attended the launch and discussion of the book *Law and Politics of Blasphemy in Indonesia: The Sacred, the State, and the Ballot Box*, organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Law & Economics (CIRCLE) at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia. The book serving as the subject of the discussion is based on the dissertation of Rafiqa Qurrata, Ph.D.—a senior researcher at CIRCLE FH UI—and examines the politics of blasphemy law in Indonesia.
The discussion stems from the fact that blasphemy laws remain a subject of ongoing debate within Indonesia’s legal landscape, particularly regarding the interplay between religion, constitutional rights, and democratic governance. The issue of blasphemy has persisted in Indonesia from the pre-democratic era through to the post-democratic period. The central question addressed in this book is why the use of blasphemy laws continues.
This book specifically examines the rising use of blasphemy laws in the post-Reformasi era and the extent to which religion has become a vehicle for political objectives that subsequently gain legal legitimacy. The study views the application of these laws as a reflection of power relations and links the phenomenon of blasphemy to the concept of an “illiberal legal order”—a state in which the law does not serve to uphold a liberal democratic system. The persistent invocation of blasphemy is thus seen as having transformed laws that privilege religious observance into a practical instrument for mobilizing religion for political ends.
During the discussion, Dr. Hurriyah noted that the issue is closely linked to her research on religious freedom. She questioned whether blasphemy laws have truly ceased to function as instruments of power, particularly given recent shifts in their application—moving from targeting figures like Lia Eden and Tajul Muluk to targeting social media influencers. Hurriyah also highlighted the book’s approach, which positions the politics of law as a crucial lens for understanding the use of blasphemy laws. She argued that the *Reformasi* era disrupted the state hegemony that characterized the New Order, creating space for “agonistic pluralism” and leading to a reconfiguration of religious politics in Indonesia. In this context, blasphemy laws remain politically advantageous for politicians, even though—from the perspective of rational choice theory—the religious marketplace could actually represent an economic burden.
Usman Hamid also highlighted the use of blasphemy laws as a means to safeguard the economic and political interests of the elite. He cited the protests of November 4 and December 2, 2016, as examples demonstrating how the issue of blasphemy could be steered toward political ends—specifically, the demand to imprison Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
Meanwhile, Rafiqa Qurrata, Ph.D., explained that the book is an adaptation of the dissertation she wrote during her doctoral studies at the University of Melbourne. She emphasized the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the issue of blasphemy. According to her, an approach relying on a single academic discipline may reach an impasse in addressing the problem, whereas analyzing other dimensions can help reveal the root causes more comprehensively.
Unlike typical book launches and discussions, this event concluded with a presentation by the author. Through this explanation, participants were invited to see how an interdisciplinary approach can be employed to break the impasse in understanding the issue of blasphemy laws in Indonesia. The book *Law and Politics of Blasphemy in Indonesia: The Sacred, the State, and the Ballot Box* serves as an example of applying this approach to comprehend the ongoing dynamics among law, religion, politics, and power in Indonesia.
