Armando Siahaan, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – Some of the country's lawmakers have joined the chorus of criticism against the 2006 joint ministerial decree on houses of worship, suggesting that it should be replaced with a new law.
The decree, issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, obliges a congregation to ensure approval from at least 60 households in the immediate vicinity of a planned new site. That stipulation, however, has been lambasted by rights groups as making it next to impossible for congregations of minority faiths to build houses of worship in the Muslim-majority country.
Recently, the decree has been cited to justify a spate of attacks against Christian congregations in the Jakarta suburbs by hard-line Islamic groups, who say the congregations have no permits to hold religious services.
The latest attack, against the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) of Pondok Timur Indah, Bekasi, saw a church elder stabbed and the reverend beaten on the head with a stick, while they were on their way to Sunday services on Sept. 12.
On Thursday, Pramono Anung, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, called for new legislation to shore up the decree's lack of protection for minority faiths.
"Maybe it's time we had a law on religious harmony, so that the issue is no longer compacted in the joint ministerial decree," said Pramono, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic party of Struggle (PDI-P). "The decree has been proven to cause conflicts between religious groups."
Separately, Bima Arya Sugiharto, a legislator with the Islamic-based National Mandate Party (PAN), said the country was without laws which explicitly detail government protection for freedom of worship. All of the existing regulations, he said, left this freedom up to "a consensus among religious believers."
"The debate now must not just be about whether the government should annul the decree, but also whether we should leave freedom of worship to a consensus or clearly state in law that it must be protected by the government," he said.
"PAN believes that Indonesia's diversity must be strengthened with clear legislation. Freedom of worship must have a sound legal foundation."
Rahadi Zakaria, a PDI-P legislator who serves on House Commission II, overseeing domestic affairs, agreed that a new law would provide the legal standing for the constitutionally mandated freedom of worship.
"This whole time we've been referring to rules such as the joint decree, which are not recognized by our Constitution," he said. "It lacks the power that a law would carry."
Zulkarnaen Djabar, a Golkar Party legislator on House Commission VIII, overseeing religious affairs, said a religious harmony law could "strengthen the spirit of unity in the country."
He said Golkar had long been a proponent of such a law. "As a country, we should see diversity not as a threat, but as a power that could help Indonesia face its various challenges," Zulkarnaen said.
Previously, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, the deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, had questioned the legitimacy of the joint ministerial decree. "The requirement of 60 signatures is unnecessary because the freedom to worship must to be guaranteed by the state," he said.
Meanwhile, Jazuli Juwaeni, from the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said cases of religious discrimination against Muslims was just as widespread, although not as well-publicized.
"In provinces where the majority of residents aren't Muslim, it's not easy for Muslims to get a permit to build a mosque," said Jazuli. "Most Muslims in those areas don't make a problem out of it."
[Additional reporting from Antara.]