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PAN: Government needs to back rhetoric on tolerance with real actions
Jakarta Globe - January 4, 2014
"It's true that we should not solely depend on the state to create harmony; society and religious figures play an important role," Bara Hasibuan, a senior official with the party known as the PAN, said in Jakarta on Friday.
"However, there are steps that only the government can take in building peace, such as enforcing laws and providing equal protection to those who need it." Bara was responding to President Yudhoyono's speech during the annual national Christmas celebration on Dec. 27.
"Our nation must strengthen awareness and goodwill in order to build peace and harmony," Yudhoyono said. "We must instill this in our children, from toddlers to elementary and high school students. Parents, teachers and religious leaders have a duty and a big responsibility. Religious leaders ought to sow the seeds of good deeds and grow them among their own people."
Bara said that the president's call to religious leaders was essentially correct but it still required concrete action from the government to encourage peace and harmony in the country.
Bara said the state played a crucial role through law enforcement and by guaranteeing protection for every group to practice their respective religious beliefs.
He accused the state of failing to carry out its function and authority in protecting minority groups lately, and instead bowing to pressure from radical groups who often resorted to violence in spreading hatred.
"Under such conditions, it isn't surprising to see intolerance thrive in the country where the growing public perception sees the state condoning violence," Bara said.
During the official Christmas celebration, Yudhoyono urged the public to prevent religious extremism from flourishing in Indonesia. "Morally and socially, every leader in the country must prevent and reject extreme and radical behavior," he said.
"Do not depend on state actions to overcome each obstacle against tolerance and the peace in society," he warned, adding that each part of society must prevent individuals, groups and movements from spreading radicalism.
The celebration was attended by Vice President Boediono; Ignatius Suharyo, chairman of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI); interfaith activist Franz Magnis Suseno; cabinet ministers and around 4,000 Christians. Yudhoyono's comments came in the wake of reports of religious intolerance in the archipelago, including the continued closure of the embattled GKI Yasmin congregation's church in Bogor, which remains shuttered by the municipal government in defiance of two rulings by the Supreme Court to reopen it.
Data from the Setara Institute, which advocates tolerance and democracy, show 264 cases of violent attacks on religious minorities in 2012, a significant increase on the 216 cases recorded in 2010.
Fatal attacks on Ahmadiyah and Shiite Muslims by local Sunni communities have lent credence to the view that intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, but many of the problems are woven out of the country's strong decentralized political framework and abrasive hard-line groups who are permitted by the regional and central governments to operate without fear of serious prosecution.
Observers warn the problems will likely intensify this year as political parties seek to appeal to Muslim voters by burnishing their conservative credentials.
Yudhoyono has frequently found himself on the receiving end of blame for what some say is an increase of religious intolerance in Indonesia.
Human Rights Watch published an article in August last year titled "Putting a Smiley Face on Indonesia's Religious Intolerance," that criticized Yudhoyono for retaining "a minister for religious affairs who encourages extremism."
In November, the unsuitability of Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali to office was once again evident after he went on the record to suggest that the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim sect should be disbanded.
"A religion that looks similar [to Islam] but is clearly not the same has prompted anger from some believers, especially Muslims who are the majority," Suryadharma said last year.
"It eventually creates horizontal conflict, an unfavorable situation not only for the followers of both religions but also for the people who live around the conflict area."
The role of hard-line religious groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in ramming their beliefs down the throats of the country's minorities, fueled by the tacit approval given to their activities by government ministers including Suryadharma and Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, have been documented in incidents throughout the country.
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