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Religious tolerance in Indonesia is still worth questioning

Vaseline

JAKARTA The incident that disbanded the worship of some students at Pamulang University in South Tangerang became a byword. Tolerance between religious communities in Indonesia was again questioned.

Since yesterday, videos of residents breaking up students’ worship activities in South Tangerang have gone viral on social media. The video upload shows a group of students allegedly working together and being persecuted during worship. Before being disbanded by the residents, students sitting in one house would say Rosario’s prayer.

“Last night, the Catholic students of Pamulang University gathered at a house in Victor Serpong and prayed Rosario, but they were ambushed by Mr. RT and the residents who brought the knife to scatter and beat the students who were praying. Fortunately, there were no casualties. “, the video said.

“When did you become such primitives, yes, I said Maria’s prayer activities were good, not a crime, but you came to me with a machete. What about the head of RT Diding’s rich face? Do you want me to see his appearance modeling, ‘This is what he said in Setu area, South Tangerang, yes? pic.twitter.com/x3yWQhyHcE

Cisauk Police Chief AKP Dhady Arsya said this was the reason residents disbanded students’ worship activities in South Tangerang. He explained that this action was taken because the residents had not completed the worship process even though they had been reminded. This incident took place on Sunday (5/5/2024), around 9:00 PM WIB.

“As we can say, it is true that RT dissolved us when we could do this,” he said, Senin (5-6-2024).

Incidents of shutting down worship services don’t just happen once or twice. Although Indonesia is known as a tolerant nation, the facts on the ground sometimes say the opposite. The dissolution of worship activities by locals in South Tangerang is just a small part of other intolerant stories in this country.

Two men, one of whom was named Imam Mulyana, came to the house of a resident of Rawa Sentul Village RT 01 / RW 04 Jayamukti Village, Central Cikarang District, Bekasi Regency, named Jamin Sihombing, who was a Christian. The incident took place in April 2020, when the COVID-19 virus violently attacked Indonesia and even the rest of the world.

At that time the owner of the house was holding a worship service. Imam came in and became angry in a loud tone. Jamin Sihombing explained that worship activities were conducted at home due to the government’s Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) policy.

A religious organization on behalf of Defender Ahlu Sunnah (PAS) held a demonstration against holding a service activity at Sabuga Building, Bandung in November 2016. Cited by Antara, the PAS group demanded that organizers move religious activities to places of worship, not public facilities.

Halili, director of research at the SETARA Institute, NGOs that research and advocate for democratic, political and human rights issues, estimates that many cases of intolerance occur in Indonesia because of its majoritarian nature that likes to intimidate minorities.

“The virus of intolerance and discrimination is no less dangerous than corona. Because it not only endangers human security but can also damage our social order and peace,” he said after the Bekasi incident two years ago.

According to Halili, diversity and unity are the foundation of the state that must be translated by all government officials, including those at the village or neighborhood level. He assessed that the government has so far failed to ensure that its officials adhere to the principles of diversity.

“The government must ensure that officials from the top to the bottom have a solid perspective on diversity,” Halili said.

Halili continued: The meritocracy approach can be a solution to government officials’ neglect of intolerance.

“Structural sanctions are necessary for officials who practice intolerance. They can be transferred or other punishments. Perhaps government officials never coordinate with each other on the harmony of citizens,” he said.

Violence motivated by intolerance also occurred in Papua during Lebaran 2015. At that time, there was a riot as Muslims held Eid prayers in Karubaga, Tolikara. A group of people from the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (GIDI) forcibly dispersed the Eid prayer congregation that began worship.

The riots spiraled out of control even though security forces had been disbanded, leading to a number of stalls and places of worship being set on fire. As a result of this incident, one person died and 11 others were injured.

Not to mention the issue of an agreement between residents of Karet Hamlet, Pleret, Bandung and Yogyakarta, rejecting non-Muslim residents living in their villages. The existence of the regulation has reportedly been in effect since 2015.

However, the agreement was canceled after a resident named Slamet Junniarto, who is Catholic, questioned it. Slamet is not allowed by Karet residents to settle in the hamlet because they do not embrace Islam.

Updating and implementing the Constitution is a duty as a citizen. Therefore, all Indonesian people must fulfill these obligations and comply with applicable laws and regulations, including guaranteeing the independence of each people to embrace religion and worship according to the religion they embrace.

Citing the Ministry of Religion website, religious institutions that prohibit violence against other religious people who worship can be considered constitutionally harassing. This is because the ban on worship, especially those that lead to violence, is clearly unconstitutional. Those who are proven to do this should be legally responsible.

“The parties, both individuals and institutions, that have been proven to have done such things are not only violating human rights guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution, but have also undermined the foundations of religious edifices for living harmony,” said Minister of Religion Lukman Hakim Saifuddin in 2015. .

Tag: kerusuhan tangerang selatan ibadah katolik

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