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Majority power: Rejecting places of worship
The open rejection of non-Muslim places of worship has been a repetitive phenomenon in Indonesia lately. It’s heartbreaking to note that the lack of proper certificates, permission, or documentation are very rarely the main reasons for the rejections. Every single news report reveals the stronger reason is simply because “the area is a Muslim-majority area”.
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A banner in front of the site of the planned construction of a Hindu temple in Sukatani village, Bekasi regency, West Java reads: “Be careful! If you insist on building the temple, we are ready to carry out jihad as you are the ones who started this.” (Tempo/File)
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Facebook post featuring pictures of a group of people rejecting the construction of a Hindu temple in Sukatani, Bekasi, West Java went viral on Tuesday. The images showed people holding a banner saying “Be careful! If you still insist on building the temple we are ready to carry out jihad as you are the ones who started this.” According to the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Hindu Religious Council (PHDI), the temple construction had been agreed to by the village head and surrounding inhabitants, but the rejection came from an organization from outside the location.
The open rejection of non-Muslim places of worship has been a repetitive phenomenon in Indonesia lately. In early January, a banner rejecting the construction of a church, GKI Ampera, in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, went viral. Last November, people in Limbung, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, rejected the construction of a vihara, a Buddhist place of worship. In July 2018 another rejection of the construction of a vihara surfaced in Kayu Ara, Lubuklinggau, South Sumatra – although the construction had reportedly gained authorities’ permission.
In February 2018, the Bima Muslim Forum (FUI Bima) openly rejected the construction of a temple in Labuan Kenanga, Tambora, East Nusa Tenggara. In Bekasi in 2017, there was also an open rejection to the construction of the St. Clara Church. It was reportedly planned to be Southeast Asia’s biggest church and thus was rejected for the reason that “the construction will hurt the feelings of the Muslim majority in the area”.
It’s heartbreaking to note that the lack of proper certificates, permission, or documentation are very rarely the main reasons for the rejections. Every single news report reveals the stronger reason is simply because “the area is a Muslim-majority area”.
Ironically, we rarely hear about rejection of mosque construction in non-Muslim-majority provinces. If you visit the Hindu-majority Bali, mosques are easily found. Majestic, beautiful, spacious mosques that are free to air their adzan (calls to prayer) five times a day. In February 2019, I Nyoman Giri Prasta, the mayor of Badung in south Bali, even donated Rp 3 billion (US$209,544) for the construction of the Al Hasanah Mosque in Canggu.
During Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, Muslims are allowed to go to the mosque five times a day, safeguarded by the pecalang, the Balinese traditional security guards, in case anyone harasses the Muslims for violating Nyepi restrictions on leaving their houses.
If the reasoning of “the majority should always be respected and followers of minority religions should not build their place of worship” is followed, Indonesia would soon be filled with more conflicts and virtual competitions of intolerance, where people try to beat each other over who can hurt which religion the most. Respect works both ways; anything less than that is unfair.
