South Tapanuli Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Subandriya said Monday that the police would take action but needed to proceed carefully.

The police, he said, did not want to take action that might trigger more problems.

“We don’t want the situation to get out of hand.

“The police want to deal with this matter properly to ensure it does not get out of hand.

“Our job is to ensure this case does not develop into a serious racial or religious conflict,” Subandriya told The Jakarta Post.

He said the incident was caused by many Sibuhuan residents.

About 1,000 Muslims set fire to Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) and GPDI churches Friday night in an incident that was blamed as a culmination of tension between Muslims and Christians over the presence of unregistered churches in the area.

The Friday attack, the first time in the history of North Sumatra where both Muslim and Christian communities live together, caused no serious injury or fatalities, but forced hundreds of Christians
to flee the scene.

Padang Lawas Deputy Regent Ali Sutan Harahap said the incident did not involve people from outside the community.

“There was no provocation from anyone living outside Sibuhuan. Residents attacked the churches because unregistered churches remained active,” Ali said.

According to the police, the churches were built in Sibuhuan in 1982. The construction was reportedly opposed by Muslim residents because they were constructed without building permits.

In 1992, the Muslim and Christian communities reached an agreement to stop construction, but the agreement was violated. The churches maintained activity and worship.

HKBP church management said it had stopped church construction in December last year following a meeting with the regency administration, Christians and the Indonesian Ulema Council. It had also  begun dismantling the church on Jan. 13, 2010.

Ali said the attack was a shock since there had never been a problem concerning other churches in the regency including six churches in Sosa district.

“Six churches in Sosa are safe. The Muslim and Christian communities live in peace there,” he said.

Responding to the attack, Ali said the administration was planning to set up an interfaith communication forum in Padang Lawas regency to nurture religious harmony.

Maratua Simanjuntak, North Sumatra Interfaith Communication Forum head, said he welcomed the plan to implement an interfaith forum in Padang Lawas, saying it would work effectively to solve the problem following Friday’s conflict.

”The administration should quickly facilitate the forum to prevent tension between both communities,” Maratua said.

He said he hoped Muslim and Christian leaders would collaborate to begin the forum.

“Torching churches is unacceptable, this incident would not occur if we could live in harmony,” Maratua said.

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