T

o highlight the increasing incidence of religious intolerance in the country, NGOs will hold a series of events to observe International Tolerance Day, which falls on Nov. 16.

The celebration, which will last from Nov. 16 to 19, will start with a march from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the National Monument in Central Jakarta on Sunday.

'€œMore than 3,000 people will march,'€ said Nia Sjarifudin of the National Alliance for Unity in Diversity (ANBTI) on Friday.

Nia revealed that the march would be set on its way by Women'€™s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Susana Yembise, followed by an art performance from native Papuans.

'€œWhen we arrive at the finish line, we will greeted by Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa,'€ said Nia.

Following the march, organizers are scheduled to hold a conference to discuss the topic '€œstrengthening the accountability of faith and religious freedom violations in Southeast Asia'€ at the national library in Salemba, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 17 and 18.

The conference, sponsored by the Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) group, the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and the Families of Missing Persons Associations (IKOHI), will open with a keynote speech from Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim.

Selviana Yolanda from AJAR said that there would be two major themes for the conference: national mechanisms related to the management of religious freedom viola-tion cases and an overview of religious freedom conditions in Southeast Asia.

'€œSpeakers from the Philippines and Singapore will give talks, while speakers from Indonesia will include victims of religious intolerance from East Java, Aceh and Yogyakarta,'€ said Selviana.

The celebration will wrap up with a briefing on the current situation of religious tolerance by the Commission Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) to diplomats from various countries concerned with the issue on Nov. 19 at Kontras'€™ headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

ANBTI researcher Sudarto said the series of events was being held in response to recent studies on rising religious intolerance, including one by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI).

The study showed that there had been 2,398 cases of violence resulting from intolerance between
1998 and 2014, 65 percent of which were caused by religious differences, with ethnic differences behind 20 percent of cases and violence toward women the cause of 15 percent.

'€œTherefore, we need to understand what tolerance really means. Just look at Jakarta, where religious tension is very strong because of the row over the inauguration of the new governor,'€ Sudarto said.

He was referring to the promotion of Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, to the Jakarta governorship, which has been met with met with resistance from the hardline Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which has declared that only a Muslim is fit to lead the city.