T

he media has once again reported religious attacks against the Ahmadiyah community and other religious minority groups in Bandung, West Java.

During Abdurrahman Wahid’s and Megawati’s tenures as presidents of Indonesia, religious intolerance was prohibited, and both presidents arduously dealt with religious warmongers in Maluku and cleaned up the religious mess in Poso.

They both did an excellent job by arresting religious men who preached hatred.

However, during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY)’s tenure, these extremists are being nurtured. A certain mass organization continuously attacks other religious minority groups.

It has now started its hate activities in Bandung. Why is SBY not acting against this mass organization?

It is hilarious that SBY is defending the Rohingnya in neighboring Myanmar by sending funds and a religious group to aid these people yet is not paying attention to cleaning up his own backyard from religious intolerance.

It is high time for him to take vigorous action in his own country by cleaning up this religious mess. The question is: Does he have enough guts and is he capable of doing this?

SBY will go into history as a man who dared not make decisions, who left religious intolerance to others to deal with, but as usual his instructions were ignored (nobody listens to him anyway). This has resulted in a religious mess that has now grown completely out of control.

SBY is refusing to deal with this religious hate-group in his own country. Restaurants and bistros are continuously being attacked, shops selling alcoholic beverages and licensed nightclubs that pay enormous amounts in taxes are regularly being destroyed.

The owners have licenses, pay taxes for their businesses and employ hundreds and hundreds of people, and still SBY closes his eyes. He is not capable of protecting his own citizens.

SBY should ask Malaysia for advice. In that neighboring country, religious hatred is not tolerated as it slows down economic development and prosperity.

SBY, your own population is already fed up with you and they cannot wait for the next president to take control of this nation and clean up the religious mess that you are leaving behind.

Lynna van der Zee-Oehmke
Bogor, West Java