I’ve been keeping tracks on reports of religious violence
towards minority groups in Indonesia for several years now. I follow them for
several reasons. First is because of my human rights background, which means I
am automatically interested in human rights issues, and religious freedom is obviously
a human rights issue. Second, and no less important than the first one, is because
this is personal for me. I am not a religious person. I don’t go to church that
often, but to celebrate major events, and sometimes I even question my belief.
However, I still consider myself as a member of a religious group – Christianity,
which in Indonesia is considered minority. My family and some of my friends are
Christians. That is why the plights of Christian people in this country affect
me, more or less.
Looking at all the cases of the last few years, I have to
say that I am really unhappy with the state of religious freedom in Indonesia.
There seems to be a rise in intolerance (I prefer not to say a rise in
radicalism here because I don’t think that all people who reject the rights of non-Moslems
to worship are radicals, but they are certainly intolerant). We have cases of
violence against minority groups, mass demonstrations to close house of
worships, abuses, and so on. There were even
people killed because of their belief (see here).
All these cases have created a certain feeling of abandonment in me. It feels like we are slowly being evicted out of our country, like we are no longer wanted. Even more unsettling is the fact that the government seems to not do much to prevent all those cases to happen. There is a growing perception amongst the minority groups that we are left to fend this on our own, that they do not really care whether we can worship the way we please or our way of life is being threatened. Add to that is the fact that it seems sometimes the government even take an active role in fanning the flames of these groups – these intolerant groups who want nothing else but the expulsion of all minorities out of Indonesia.
Take for example the latest case of the church HKBP
Filadelfia, in Tambun, Bekasi. The local Bekasi government refused to obey the
ruling by the High Court that says that the church Filadelfia should be allowed
to continue its activities, repealing the local government edict of 2009 that
banned the church to continue its worship service. Somehow the case reminds me of similar
unresolved case in Bogor of GKI Yasmin. In that case, the local Bogor government,
refused to obey the ruling of the Supreme Court that allows GKI Yasmin
congregation to continue worshiping in their building.
There are other similarities between the two cases. One, the two cases saw the
active efforts by the local government, after getting pressures from several ‘religious’
groups, to stop a local church to continue its service. Two, in both cases, the
central government, the one with the mandate to uphold the constitution, the
rule of law and the protection of the human rights of all its citizens, refuses to intervene. The central government
chooses to ignore the matter, citing that the issue is of local concerns, forgetting that they have the responsibility to uphold the law and to protect their citizens. Three, there are thugs involved - 'religious' thugs. They block people to come to church. They hurl abuses and insults towards the members of the congregations, even throwing stuffs (there are reports of people throwing pee in bottles).
Indonesian government claims itself as a democratic country.
Apparently, their brand of democracy is closer to the ‘tyranny of majority’
rather than a true democracy, at least for now. Cases of religious intolerance,
even violence, where the police and government refuse to do anything about it,
seem to confirm this. I am always hopeful for the future of Indonesia, and I do
love this country. However, I am worried that, unless decisive steps are taken
soon, more and more Indonesian minorities will feel isolated, abandoned and
left out; even feel discriminated. That may not bode well for our future.
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