I

t has been a tradition for anyone holding the religious affairs post to lead the prayer during the Independence Day celebration. And this year, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saefuddin may have just started a new tradition: He invited his followers on Twitter to help him draft the prayer.

His Twitter account, which has more than 214,000 followers, has since received an enormous amount of tweets from netizens. Some expressed their hopes that the country would remain peaceful and be more tolerant, while others took the chance to share typical online gags with the minister.

“Currently I am still drafting the prayer and apparently many of my followers on Twitter have highlighted the pluralism, tolerance and peace in the country,” Lukman told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Twitter user Iwan Pranoto, who uses the handle @iwanpranoto, hoped that Indonesians could “be grateful with pluralism”.

“[I hope] intolerance can be minimized,” tweeted another user, Fa Sin, from the handle @4SinCong, which was retweeted by the minster.

The minister acknowledged that interfaith harmony in the country had not been in fine form, especially after the nation learned that a dozen viharas and pagodas were burned in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, recently.

 The perpetrators were reported to be Muslims who were angered after a Chinese-Indonesian woman complained about the volume of the adzan (call for prayer) from a mosque near her house.

A similar case also took place in Gondangwangun, Klaten, Central Java, where a statue of Jesus and Mary at the Santo Yusuf Pekerja Catholic Church were vandalized by unidentified vandals.

Local authorities say that several pieces of evidence have been secured and they will intensify investigations to ascertain the motive behind the vandalism.

With the frequent cases of vandalism targeting both religious minorities, many have suggested that the country could do more to strengthen interfaith tolerance.

The Wahid Institute, a religious-freedom observer that promotes pluralism, released findings earlier this year showing an increasing trend of discriminatory acts against minority groups.

The institute recorded 190 violations of freedom of religion in 2015, a notable 23 percent increase from the 154 cases in 2014.

Most of the violations were forced closures of places of worship or prohibition of their construction. The institute also found that certain believers could not freely practice their rituals, although they are protected by the law.

“The plurality that the nation has should be perceived as a blessing, not the other way around” Lukman said.

Some Twitter users, however, refused to take the minister’s request too seriously. Eko Sanjaya Tamba, with the Twitter handle @ekotamba, asked Lukman to pray that politicians stop being so dramatic.

One Twitter user, Ari Wibisono, with the handle @rpwibisono, hoped that Indonesians would pray more and “not forget to be happy”.

The minister also retweteed @MsYon, who asked him to pray for those who were still single on Independence Day.

In another tweet, one user, @jojorivai, asked the minister to pray to God that Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama would be reelected as Jakarta Governor, and Surabaya Mayor Tri “Risma” Rismaharini would not contend the election in the capital.

Lukman jokingly replied, “Oh dear, your prayer is too political.” (fac)