Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Rampant religious intolerance in North Sumatra has brought the government's commitment to upholding religious freedom into question, says the North Sumatra Joint Alliance (ASB).
The ASB released a list of 17 cases of religious intolerance in the province from January to August this year. The incidents included attacks, including arson attacks, on houses of worship, houses of worship permit conflicts, evictions from houses of worship, religious discrimination, anarchy, deviation from standard ideologies, stigmatization and abuse against religious symbols.
ASB director Veryanto Sitohang said that they had surveyed victims of religious intolerance in Tanjung Balai, Binjai, Langkat, Karo and Medan.
"We were meeting with victims for six months. They were generally concerned about their situation and hoped that all feelings of animosity would end," Veryanto said during a discussion titled "Religious Freedom: Is There Any Hope", in Medan on Tuesday. The three-hour forum was attended by non-governmental activists, university students and representatives of the Islamic sect Ahmadiyah.
Veryanto said that the wide religious and ethnic diversity in North Sumatra meant that the province was like a miniature of the diversity in Indonesia as a whole.
Veryanto said the survey had revealed four drivers of religious intolerance – forced adherence to mainstream religious beliefs by religious organizations, persecution of religious congregations wishing to establish houses of worship, discriminative governmental policies and raids.
"I'm optimistic that if these four triggers can be prevented then hopes for freedom in practicing religion can be guaranteed," he said.
In Binjai, he said, Batak Christians associated with the HKBP Christian congregation were especially concerned about religious intolerance, because their application for a permit to build a house of worship had been delayed by five years.
Christians in Samosir were reported to be concerned about the local government's plan to issue a bylaw that would ban citizens from opening stores on Sundays, as a way of encouraging residents to go to church on Sunday.
"The ban would be unfair and we will fight until it is annulled," he said, adding that his organization had the West Pakpak administration annul an article in the bylaw that would have banned women from going out at night.
Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch urged the government to uphold laws on religious freedom. "The key is that the government must be consistent in enforcing the law," Andreas said.