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Jokowi calls for firm action against intolerance
In response to a question about protests against a church renovation in Tanjungbalai, Karimun, Riau Islands, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he had called for firm action to ensure that religious freedom was upheld, while adding that such matters were the responsibility of regional administrations
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span>In response to a question about protests against a church renovation in Tanjungbalai, Karimun, Riau Islands, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he had called for firm action to ensure that religious freedom was upheld, while adding that such matters were the responsibility of regional administrations.
“Our Constitution clearly protects the freedom for every citizen and their right to worship according to their beliefs,” Jokowi said in a press briefing at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.
“I have instructed the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister and the National Police chief to take firm action against groups or people that disturb [people’s right to worship] according to the Constitution. Intolerance should not exist,” he added.
The renovation of the 92-year-old Santo Joseph Catholic Church in Karimun, Riau Islands, was halted last week following protests by local groups. The church, which was established in 1928, obtained a building license for the renovation last October but had postponed activity after objections from the local United Muslim Forum (FUIB) and the Karimun Regency Caring Alliance (APKK).
Jokowi also mentioned an incident in North Minahasa, North Sulawesi, when a meeting hall for Muslims was vandalized by locals.
“I had hoped that the regional administrations could resolve these issues,” he said. “But because I did not see any action taken by the regions I have ordered the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister and the National Police chief to resolve both the incident involving the church in Karimun and the mosque in North Minahasa.”
Imparsial, a human rights watchdog, recorded at least 31 violations of the freedom of religion and worship (KBB) in the country in 2019. Most dominant were the dispersal of religious activities and the prohibition of the construction of houses of worship.
The majority of the victims were of minority religious groups, which, in Indonesia, consist of adherents to any religion except Islam. Muslims account for about 87 percent of the country’s 264 million people.
The minorities include Protestants, Catholics, Hindus, Buddhists, Confucians and hundreds of indigenous faiths such as Sundanese Wiwitan and Javanese Kejawen. Other citizens decline to identify their beliefs or lack religious sentiment altogether.
These groups received unfair treatment from private citizens, Islamic religious mass organizations and — to the surprise of many — local authorities who were supposed to defend citizens’ fundamental rights.
The government and the President have done very little to change the state of affairs.
Twenty-eight of the 31 cases recorded by Imparsial were committed by local residents with the support of hard-line mass organizations. The remaining three cases were perpetrated by state officials.
Earlier, the Karimun church’s parish head, Kristiono Widodo, said that when workers were about to start the renovation last week, a group of around 20 people started yelling from outside the church, demanding that they stop working.
“They wanted to go inside and look for the church management whom they considered to be provocative, and asked for the work to stop,” Kristiono told The Jakarta Post.
After a heated discussion, Kristiono said that church officials agreed to go to the Karimun Police headquarters with the group.
“When we got there, it turned out that the Karimun Regent Aunur Rofiq, an APKK representative and customary leaders were already there,” Kristiono said.
Separately, Aunur said that local Muslims, as represented by the APKK and FUIB, proposed three demands to his administration, namely relocating the church, turning the church into a historical site or revoking the permit already issued for the church renovation.
“As an IMB [building permit] is a legal product, we have to wait for the ongoing legal process,” he said, calling on all sides to exercise restraint to maintain the tranquility of the region.
Jokowi’s comment about such incidents being the responsibility of regional administrations drew criticism from interfaith activist Alissa Wahid, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.
“Sir, matters of religion cannot be left to regional autonomy, because the faithful are spread all throughout Indonesia, while regional heads are only focused on their own regions, which is understandable,” she tweeted.
Alissa added that she hoped Jokowi’s instructions could be formulated into a more sustainable policy that could be applied to the whole country, “not just Minahasa or Karimun”.
