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No recognition, but maybe a back door for marginalized faiths: Minister
Jakarta Globe - November 6, 2014
Followers of religions such as Baha'i, as well as local beliefs such as Buhun, Kejawen and Sunda Wiwitan, would previously have had to enter one of Indonesia's six recognized faiths if they wanted to receive an ID card, or KTP. Indonesia recognizes only Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Protestantism.
"The law only recognizes six religions and we would have to change the law if we wanted to add to that," Tjahjo said at his office in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara. "Leaving the column empty is allowed, however, no problem."
Tjahjo's position is a workaround that could allow practitioners of minority faiths to receive documentation without having to lie about their beliefs on an official document.
Affording official status to religions other than the six already approved by the state requires legislation – which would inevitably be seized on as a controversial issue by many populist legislators, making reform a cumbersome task in a divided legislature. "We cant break the law – we must obey it," Tjahjo said.
Religious Affairs Minster Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has previously sounded a similarly liberalizing tone on his policy plans for the next five years.
He said in July that he believed the Baha'i faith should be given official recognition – a significant departure from a ministry more used to managing the status quo, as commanded by its previous minister, Suryadharma Ali.
"Baha'i is a religion, not a sect," Lukman tweeted from his Twitter account @lukmansaifuddin in July, shortly after taking the religious minister job. "There are 220 believers in Banyuwangi, 100 in Jakarta, 100 in Medan, 98 in Surabaya, 80 in Palopo, 50 in Bandung, 30 in Malang and in other regions."
If Lukman and Tjahjo continue to advocate for looser policy on religious recognition, it could put the pair on a collision course with some of Indonesia's powerful Sunni Muslim organizations.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) deputy secretary Amirsyah Tambunan has previously said that the Baha'i should not be granted official status.
Similarly, very few of the archipelago's Islamic scholars have given any indication that they would accept recognition of the Ahmadiyah – an offshoot of Islam whose Indonesian followers have been repeatedly subject to discrimination and, on occasion, murder by rampaging mobs.
A report in Kompas said that the director general of civil registrations at the Home Affairs Ministry had opened discussions with the MUI and the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, on the issue of official recognition for other religions.
It remains to be seen, however, whether reform-minded Tjahjo and Lukman are able to follow through on their plans. It is also not entirely clear yet how far the new government is prepared to go with its approach to marginalized faiths – with the home affairs minister offering himself some room to maneuver with an ambiguous caveat about the protection of "general order."
"We will soon meet with the religious affairs minister to discuss it," Tjahjo told Antara. "The government should not meddle in citizens' choice of beliefs, providing [those beliefs] don't disturb the general order."
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