(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Tens of thousands of Muslims are rallying in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, against the city's Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is accused of insulting the Quran.
Protesters chanting, praying and carrying banners gathered at the National Monument in central Jakarta on Friday demanding that Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian popularly known as Ahok, be jailed on blasphemy charges.
Purnama, a long-term ally of President Joko Widodo, is being investigated over comments he made about his opponents' use of the Quran in campaigning. He denies wrongdoing but has apologised for the remarks.
Police on Thursday handed over a dossier from their investigation of Purnama’s comments to prosecutors, who are expected to take the case of alleged blasphemy to court in coming weeks.
Police officials estimated that at least 150,000 people, including many who travelled to Jakarta from towns and cities across the island of Java, gathered on Friday under drizzling rain.
Some reports put the number of protesters at several hundreds of thousands.
National news agency Antara said 22,000 police personnel would be deployed to avoid a repeat of violence that flared during a protest last month when more than 100 people were injured in clashes with police.
Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, described the protest as "an extremely big show of force by Islamist groups who have been gaining importance in Indonesia over the years.
"It is basically a threat to the secular state here in the long run, with conservative Muslims getting more and more power on the ground".
Widodo addressed the rally and praised the peaceful protest, before urging the crowd to leave safely.
"Thank you and safe travels on your return from where you came from. God bless you," said Widodo, who has blamed "political actors" for exploiting the popular fury over Purnama to destabilise his government.
Al Jazeera's correspondent said Widodo, who lives right across from the protest site, in a surprise development walked towards the National Monument park to attend Friday prayers along with hundreds of thousands of protesters.
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