Ulma Haryanto – In a fresh case of religious friction, some 50 people rallied on Wednesday outside an unfinished church in Bekasi, where a heavy police presence prevented any violence.
The reverend of the would-be Galilea Church, Telelepta, told the Jakarta Globe the group held a noisy protest in front of the building site in Bekasi's Taman Galaxy housing complex.
"They stayed for two hours. They brought banners and called themselves the forum of Bekasi Mosques and Mushollas," he said.
The group hung a banner on the fence around the site and made speeches. Some protesters reportedly also tried to climb the fence but failed.
Telelepta said three truckloads of police personnel had been sent to secure the area. "They were already there before the protesters came, so I guess the police had been better informed and were well prepared this time, unlike other incidents," he said.
On Sunday, three members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect died after a mob attacked a house in Banten. On Monday, two churches and a school were attacked in Central Java.
Bekasi administration spokesman Endang Suharyadi confirmed that it had been informed of the protest in advance and had coordinated with police. Bekasi Police Chief Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto said about 60 officers had been deployed to prevent outbreaks of violence.
Endang said the Galilea Church had all the necessary building permits. "That is what matters to us. The church has an official permit, according to the requirements in the 2006 ministerial decree," he said, referring to the government directive on houses of worship.
The Galilea Church site became the center of dispute after the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) rallied at the site in February 2010, claiming its congregation would try to convert Muslims in the area.
"They used planks of wood to seal the entrance to the church, but it was never officially sealed by the municipal government," Tetelepta said. "We continued with our construction plans, even though we tried to do it as discreetly as we could."
There have been at least three previous, small protests in front of the site, he added.
However, Saleh Mangara Sitompul, general secretary of the Bekasi Islamic Congress, challenged the city to make the permit public, saying that if everything was legitimate as it said, then "people would not demonstrate like that."
Meanwhile, Gomar Gultom, secretary general of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), called on the authorities in Bekasi to do more to protect freedom of religion in the city.
"The protests mean that people from different religions nowadays can't live side by side anymore," he said. "When a minority cannot build its house of worship, there is no such thing as religious harmony."