Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – Islamic leaders on Tuesday defended a government regulation that requires local consent before a house of worship can be established, which pluralism advocates say has been used to discriminate against minority religious groups.

A joint ministerial decree, issued by the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs in 2006, states that permits for houses of worship can only be issued if at least 60 local residents approve it.

"We believe that the regulation needs to be revised because it does not cater to people's needs," Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman for the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

Calls to amend the decree resurfaced following the attack on two leaders of the Batak Christian Protestant Church's (HKBP) Pondok Timur Indah congregation in Bekasi on Sunday.

Though police officials maintain there is no proof the attack was related to religious conflict, suspicions are rife that it was related to the church's troubles with hard-line Islamic groups that have been protesting the church's use of a vacant lot in Ciketing, Bekasi, for prayer services without a permit.

The church began holding services in the field in August after the house it was using was sealed off by the Bekasi administration, again because it did not have a permit.

Theophilus Bela, secretary general of the Indonesian Committee of Religions for Peace, previously told the Globe the permit requirement was being abused. "Building permits are an excuse here to shut down churches or to freeze prayer services in homes," he said.

The HKBP's Filadelfia congregation in Bekasi, the HKBP Church in East Karawang, West Java, and the GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor have all seen their places of worship sealed off or blocked by protesters this year because of the permit issue, according to data collected by Setara.

Bonar said that such requirements were unnecessary since freedom to worship was enshrined in the Constitution.

Article 28 Section E of the Constitution states that "every person shall be free to choose and to practice the religion of their choice" and "guarantees all persons the freedom of worship, each according to their own religion or belief."

However, Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Islamic organization in the country, said freedom of worship was not an absolute freedom.

"Religious freedom cannot simply be based on what the Constitution says – there are rules to be followed," he said, citing the 2006 ministerial decree, which he said was agreed to by all representative councils of the country's six official religions.

"All articles in the decree must be publicized to avoid problems." Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), agreed, saying there was a need to regulate how religions were practiced.

"If everybody obeyed the joint decree, such conflict would never happen," he said. "The incident was caused by one party that was trying to force its religious expression."