Western Resistance

« Bangladesh: Islamist Bombs Kill Two Judges | | India: Leftist Parties Want Congress to Vote Against the U.S. »

November 14, 2005

Indonesia: Muslims Continue to Close Churches

Today, Voice of America has an article by Marianne Kearney. Clicking on the site-link will bring up an option to hear a real-player audio report. She describes the case of the Jatimulya Protestant church in the Jatimula suburb of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, which is made of two houses in a muddy lane behind a boarding school.

The school was forcibly closed down by a group of white-robed young Muslims, and now a sign says the church has been closed because Muslim residents objected to its being used as a place of worship. The people who effectively shut down the school were students from the Muslim boarding school.

Indonesian law says that religious groups must obtain permission from local residents before building a mosque or school, and though the students are not permanent residents, they exploited this legal measure. In effect, just one complaint is required to block construction of a religious building, or to have it closed.

Recently, the female minister of the church, Reverend Ana Nenoharan, was detained for about an hour by young men armed with knives, who claimed to be from an Islamic group.

Indonesia is 85% Muslim, so Christians are in a minority. One umbrella group which has actively involved itself wiith closing down schools is the Anti-Apostacy Alliance, but as we reported earlier, groups working under this alliance include the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI) and Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Ms Kearney spoke to Richard Daulay of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, who accuses the government of failing to protect the rights of Christians. "That is the weakness of our government now," he said. "They are not able yet to give freedom to people as it was instructed by constitution."

Andy Mallerangeng, spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has said the president has orderered the police to prevent attacks upon religious minorities. Daulay claims that some police commanders have insisted Christian groups break the law, so little has changed. Atleast 30 churches have been closed this year alone. Mallerangeng has stated that the government is considering revising the law.

This month a house used as a church on the island of Sulawesi was vandalised by a mob. We have already reported the problems on Sulawesi. On October 29, three Christian girls were beheaded in Poso, central Sulawesi, and again in Poso on November 8 two Christian girls were shot in the head, near a local church. This region was subject to excessive violence between Muslims and Christians between 2001 and 2002, in which 1000 people died. The violence against Christians in Poso led to the city being virtually destroyed in 1998, in riots which started on Christmas Day. The picture above is the Oikumene Iradat Puri Church from Poso, which was gutted by fire on December 30, 1998.

Unless the government takes urgent steps now to stem the abuse against Christians, it seems that the dormant violence will erupt again.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 14, 2005 9:28 PM

Comments

Post a comment