T

he Alliance of Religious People’s Harmony in West Java objected to Tuesday’s mobilization of Sirnamiskin Muslim boarding school (pesantren) students against the construction of a church in Bandung.

“The students should have been at school, not staging a rally,” Asep Hadian Permana, chairman of the alliance, said after witnessing the rally by hundreds of pesantren students in front of the office of Ciputra Bipark, which is managed by PT Central Internasional Property in Bandung.

The rally was staged by up to 300 students, from elementary to senior high school, under the supervision of their teachers.

The students marched from their school less than 300 meters away to the Ciputra Bizpark office, which was mentioned as the developer of a church construction next to their boarding school.

In the rally the students unfurled banners, which read among others: “Stop the church construction”, “Respect SKB [Joint Ministerial Decree on Church construction]” and “If the church is constructed, dismiss [Bandung mayor] Dada Rosada.”

When they arrived at the office, they sang and shouted slogans which strongly opposed the church construction.

Anwar, 15, one of the protesters, said he joined the rally as he was ordered by his school’s caretakers. “We were told a church would be built behind our school. Its existence is feared to disrupt our school,” Anwar said.

Deputy headmaster of the Sirnamiskin Pesantren, Ugan Duriat said the mobilization of the students constituted an early warning. “We want to give a kind of shock therapy. We will deploy bigger masses if the construction turns out to be true,” he said.

Rally coordinator Iik Abdul Chalik opposed the church project as it was too close to the pesantren and its mosque. “More than that, there are no non-Muslims in the area. The people think this is part of a conspiracy.”

“However, if they want to protest, don’t involve students because it is time for them to study. If they are really against the church construction, involve local adults, not the children,” Asep said.