Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Indonesia hosts mass religious gathering amid outbreak fears

THOUSANDS of Muslim pilgrims, including Indians, gathered in Indonesia on Wednesday (18) amid fears that their meeting could fuel the spread of a coronavirus.

The event in the world's fourth most populous country went ahead, despite police persuasion to call it off, just two weeks after a similar gathering in Malaysia reportedly caused more than 500 infections.


"We are more afraid of God," one of the organisers, Mustari Bahranuddin, told Reuters, when asked about the risk of participants spreading the virus at the event in Gowa in Indonesia's province of South Sulawesi.

"Because everyone's human, we fear illnesses, death," he said. "But there's something more to the body, which is our soul."

Organisers had rejected a formal request from authorities to postpone the gathering, said a regional official, Arifuddin Saeni.

He estimated that 8,695 people had already assembled in Gowa, near the provincial city of Makassar, adding that the numbers would make it hard to put a halt to the proceedings.

"They are still coming," he said. "There are people from Thailand, Arabia, India and the Philippines."

The Malaysian event, held from February 27 to March 1, drew 16,000 followers.

Both gatherings in Indonesia and Malaysia were organised by members of Tablighi Jama'at, a global movement of evangelical Muslims that promotes proselytising, known as dakwah.

HUNDREDS INFECTED IN MALAYSIA

About two-thirds of Malaysia’s 790 infections have been traced to the meeting at a mosque complex on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

Tiny neighbour Brunei has confirmed 50 infections linked to it, while Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have also said citizens were infected there.

Organisers in Indonesia were checking pilgrims' temperatures as a precaution, Bahranuddin added. Saeni said health officials had visited the site and asked to monitor participants.

By Wednesday, Indonesia's tally of infections stood at 227, with 19 deaths. The nation of 260 million had run just 1,255 tests by Tuesday. By contrast, South Korea, with a population of a fifth that size, is doing more than 15,000 tests a day.

The Indonesian and Malaysian meetings had been organised by different groups, Bahranuddin said. Even so, he added, "Our purpose is one, even if the name changes, which is how we take religion to other people."

The same social media accounts were used to promote both events. One Facebook account displayed a photograph of a prominent Indian Tablighi cleric, Sheikh Maulana Ibrahim Dewla, leaving Kuala Lumpur airport on Tuesday for the Indonesia event.

Images on the account, Aalmi Tablighi Shura Elders, showed men setting up huge tents at the Indonesia site, and described them as having arrived early from Gulf nations to offer help.

Promotional material for the Indonesian gathering read, "The pleasure of living in this world is only a little, compared to the afterlife."

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less