I

laughed my head off when I was in Europe and read an article in a European newspaper that mentioned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) award for religious tolerance that was based on recommendations from his own staff members.

Let's get real, please! Indonesian citizens should be the ones recommending such awards, not the President's staff. Being the leader of this country, SBY is fully responsible for stimulating religious freedom and to assure that any religious community is free and safe to carry out their religious practices based on the Pancasila.

But this is not the case in Indonesia and the Pancasila is regularly being violated.

Ever since Yudhoyono took office, religious and ethnic violence has escalated and the leader of this country has done nothing to solve these problems because he was so busy travelling abroad focusing on his international aspirations.

The Ahmadiyah and Christian minorities are still being harassed and their places of worship are being set fire to or closed down.

The Jakarta Post mentioned that Christians had gathered in front of the Presidential Palace last week, where they felt safe enough to carry out religious practices.

Lynna van der Zee-Oehmke
Bogor, West Java