Stephanie Hendarta – Violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims on East Java's Madura Island and an attack on an Ahmadiyah community in West Java are among the 282 cases of religious violence in Indonesia reported in the first half of the year by the Setara Institute, an organization that monitors religious freedom in the country.
The struggle for religious freedom continues to face headwinds, as the institute reported only a minor drop in the number of acts of religious intolerance. In its January-July 2012 report, Setara recorded a total of 297 cases of violence.
Even though Indonesia's 1945 Constitution proclaims religious freedom, religious intolerance remains rampant, especially in diverse and densely populated Java.
Of the 122 incidents of religious intolerance reported, 95 occurred in Java, with 61 reported in West Java, 18 in East Java and 10 in Jakarta.
Many of the West Java incidents constituted violent attacks against the Ahmadiyah sect of Islam, considered blasphemous by fundamentalist groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
According to Setara's report, Ahmadiyah community members were attacked 46 times between January and June. In May, the West Java governor said religious tensions involving Ahmadiyah would end if the religious minority was to leave the province.
Other religious groups frequently targeted include Protestant Christians and Shiite Muslims.
Pastor Palti Panjaitan, leader of the HKBP Filadelfia Church in Tambun, Bekasi, was subjected to a second investigation in May after being charged for hitting Abdul Azis, a resident involved in an argument with church members last Christmas Eve.
The argument flared after some residents violently objected to the congregation's planned Christmas mass and ended with Palti in police custody.
Many incidents of religious intolerance have been met with little or no government intervention, allowing vigilantism to take root. National agencies were behind only 70 of the 160 responses to incidents of religious intolerance, while citizens instigated the rest, the report said.
"Government figures have been averse to taking significant action in protecting the rights of religious minorities because they are keeping their own political interests in mind," Ismail Hasani, research director at Setara, told the Jakarta Globe.
In the Sunni-Shiite conflict in Madura Island's Sampang district, police and local government officials allegedly compelled Iklil al Milal, the leader of the Nangkernang Shiite community, to sign a document consenting to a non-negotiable evacuation of the displaced Shiite people to East Java.
Setara and other human rights organizations have called for stronger political intervention in incidents of religious violence under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"We need to put more pressure on SBY's regime with the hope that it would address the issue of religious freedom more seriously," the Setara report said.
"The Statesman Award he received from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith group, has not made any impact on the progress of religious freedom in Indonesia. Rather, after SBY received the award, the violence against the Sampang Shiite intensified."