Dec 23, 2013
In Indonesia, Trying Times for Minority Faiths
Intimidation Is Rising as Hard-Line Muslim Groups Grow Increasingly Vocal
Located in a predominantly Muslim community just outside the major city of Bandung, the Pentecostal church was shut down by hard-line Muslims last month for operating without an official permit, despite having been in operation for more than two decades.
Thatand the examples of dozens of churches suffering similar fates across the countrybodes ill for religious peace in Indonesia, the world's most Muslim-populous country, activists and minority faith leaders say.
"We didn't use to have any problems," said pastor Bernhard Maukar, who was jailed for three months earlier this year for preaching without a permit.
He waved his hand at an empty auditorium attached to his home where hundreds used to gather for services twice each Sunday. "In the last two years, the conservative groups have grown bolder. They've shut down dozens of churches." He has moved services to a shop nearby and attendance is down.
Tens of thousands of churches exist across this predominantly Muslim archipelago of almost 250 million people. Most conduct services in peace, in a country where the right to practice mainstream religions apart from Judaism is enshrined by law. The majority of all houses of worshipincluding mosques and Hindu templesoperate without formal permits.
But as 2013 draws to a close, activists are reflecting on a sense that minority groups are increasingly at risk, and that intimidation is rising in other ways as hard-line Muslim groups grow increasingly vocal.
"Most Indonesians are very tolerant," said Andy Yentriyani, a commissioner with the rights organization Komnas Perempuan. "But they are the silent majority."
Yenny Wahid, daughter of former President Abdurrahman Wahid and founder of the Wahid Institute, which promotes moderate Islam, says religious intolerance is rising "people are losing trust in state institution." A loss of trust leads people to put more clout in religious leaders, including hard-line leaders, she said.
The problem of church closings has its origins in the late 1970s and 1980s, when development on the main island of Java saw a wave of migrantsincluding Christians and othersflooding in from across the immense archipelago for new jobs. That led to a rise in churches such as Mr. Maukmar's. He emigrated from North Sulawesi in the 1980s and watched his congregation rise from dozens of emigrants then to more than 400 long-term residents today.
Setara Institute, a Jakarta-based rights watchdog that tracks religious conflict, said that the number of faith-related violations ebbed slightly in 2013 after hitting the highest level in years in 2012but that new types of persecution present a worrying trend.
Religious violations are occurring "in provinces where we've never heard" of conflict occurring before, said Bonar Tigor Naipospos, Setara's deputy chairman. "And now we're seeing attacks on the [minority] Shia community. In previous years that almost never happened."
This year, some of the worst religious violations were directed at minority Islam sects, according to Setara, including the Ahmadiyah group, a sect labeled deviant by many religious leaders in Indonesia.
In other cases, Muslim Shias are facing increasing oppression in Sunni-majority Indonesia, a trend civil rights experts attribute in part to rising Shia-Sunni conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In one case that remains unresolved, hundreds of Shia were forced from their homes in eastern Java last year.
Many activists blame President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who steps down next year after a decade in power.
Critics say he pays lip service to religious tolerance, while leaving disputes up to local governments that often have little incentive to solve them.
"He just says things and hopes it will be all right," said Mr. Naipospos. "He's not a tough leader."
Mr. Yudhoyono disputes that characterization, pointing to the inherent complexity of ruling a country as large and ethnically diverse as Indonesia.
"Religious intolerance is not a growing problem," presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said. "Although pockets of intolerance still exist, we have made substantial progress."
Mr. Faizasyah said the government believes that current efforts to educate communities about worship permits will reduce church closings, and that a religious forum is moving toward resolution of the Sunni-Shia issue.
Still, even in the melting-pot capital of Jakarta, activists point to signs of faith tensions such as banners spanning crowded streets forbidding Muslims from wishing Christian neighbors Christmas greetings.
Mr. Maukmar says the intimidation hasn't broken his resolve to continue church services.
"I'm confident we'll get the permit next year," he said. "And I'm confident people will return."
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