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Yogyakarta joint Easter celebration peaceful despite threat
A joint Easter celebration held at the Kridosono Stadium in Yogyakarta on Thursday evening ran peacefully despite a threat from the local branch of the hard-line Indonesian Islamic Front (FUI) to disperse the congregation over fear of religious conversion
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joint Easter celebration held at the Kridosono Stadium in Yogyakarta on Thursday evening ran peacefully despite a threat from the local branch of the hard-line Indonesian Islamic Front (FUI) to disperse the congregation over fear of religious conversion.
Some 4,000 Christians took part in the celebration that was organized by the Yogyakarta Christian Churches Cooperation Agency.
'We highly appreciate the police for securing the event,' Yogyakarta councilor Chang Wendriyanto told The Jakarta Post, Thursday.
Appreciation was also expressed by chairman of the Yogyakarta Anti Violence Community (MAKARYO), Benny Susanto, who said that it was a good sign for the development of interfaith tolerance in the city.
'The special Yogyakarta is the tolerant Yogyakarta that respects everybody's right to worship,' said Benny, who is also an activist with the provincial branch of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, referring to the province's motto 'Yogya Istimewa' (Special Yogya).
NU Yogyakarta deployed 50 members of its civilian security guard (Banser) to help secure the joint Easter celebration.
Chairman of the celebration's organizing committee, Peringeten Barus, said the congregation came from all across Yogyakarta. Mild rain that evening did not seem to put a damper on the occasion. Participants sat in the middle of the stadium to listen to priest Stephen Tong.
Barus said that the joint Easter celebration was purely a worship activity. There was no religious conversion, healing, distribution of food or testimonies.
'We used the stadium because there was no building that could accommodate the huge congregation,' he said.
He said that during the celebration, the organizing committee also showed respect to Muslims by temporarily halting the program during calls to prayer.
Acting Yogyakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Hudit Wahyudi said his office had deployed a joint team comprising 1,588 personnel from the police and military to secure the celebration.
'Worship activities like this are guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution,' Hudit said on the sidelines of the event.
Tight security measures were applied around the stadium.
Previously, FUI's Yogyakarta branch objected to the celebration, saying through social media that it would disperse the celebration.
FUI members were seen gathering in areas near the stadium in white costumes and turbans.
