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Activists and organizations used Idul Adha, the Islamic day of sacrifice, as a platform to promote their causes on Sunday.

Among them was the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), whose chairman Busyro Muqoddas spoke in Yogyakarta.

“Corruption is a form of looting state money. State money is God’s gift to which the people are entitled,” he said.

“The meaning and function of religion has been distorted to justify corrupt political actions.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of victims of the Lapindo mud volcano prayed on its embankments in protest of delayed compensation.

Another displaced Indonesian, Sutilah, prayed at a shelter in Macasan, East Java, after her home was destroyed by lava last year.

“I live here alone. My husband died and my children are in Jambi,” she said.

Political parties were highly visible on the day, with the ruling Democratic Party slaughtering 50 cows and 15 goats whose meat would be distributed nationwide as corned beef.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself donated a 1.2-ton bull to Istiqlal Mosque.

“This is a form of sharing and solidarity with the less fortunate,” Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said.

For the most part, Idul Adha proceeded without incident, with little sign of the chaotic distribution of meat seen in previous years.

There were, however, the usual reports of fleeing cows being shot.

Meat is often distributed by mosques or municipality offices, where thousands gather.

A committee said 278 cows and 558 goats were sacrificed this year, an increase from last year.

Officials from the Bogor Institute for Agriculture (IPB) and Jakarta’s Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Office will monitor the sacrifices until Tuesday to ensure hygiene standards.

“Those involved in the sacrifices are not allowed to smoke or spit and should wear masks and gloves,” he added.