Dessy Sagita – Activists have lashed out at a Thai university's decision to honor Indonesia's minister of religious affairs, Suryadharma Ali, with a Doctor Honoris Causa title for his efforts to maintain religious tolerance in the country.

"I cannot believe the Thai government would allow one of its universities to honor him for religious tolerance in Indonesia when we know as a minister instead of promoting religious tolerance he has often made counter-productive statements that have triggered religious violence," Haris Azhar, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

Haris said that during his tenure as the religious affairs minister, Suryadharma had disrupted religious harmony in the country with his regulations and his reluctance to take a stand against discrimination, especially for minority groups such as the beleaguered Ahmadiyah.

"Prior to his appointment religious harmony was actually quite good because it has been deeply ingrained in our culture, but now the number of examples of intolerance is growing," he said. "The multi-cultural and religious harmony in Indonesia has been a given, it was there before Suryadharma Ali was appointed the minister, but now it's getting worse by the day."

Indonesian news portal Tribunes.com reported on Wednesday that Suryadharma was given the title by Princess of Naradhiwas University for his role in creating religious tolerance in Indonesia.

During the ceremony Suryadharma delivered a speech titled "Islam and the State: The Indonesia Experience," where he explained that in Indonesia, religion and good governance could go side by side in harmony.

The secretary general of the United Development Party (PPP)'s central executive board, M. Romahurmuziy, said Naradhiwas University decided to give Suryadharma the award because he is seen as an important figure who has upheld religious harmony.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy director of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, told the Jakarta Globe the award was likely given for political gain. "These titles usually have hidden agendas, which makes the credibility of both the awardee and the awarder questionable," he said.

The Princess of Naradhiwas University is based in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat, one of a number of southern provinces with a Muslim majority which have been the center of an ongoing insurgency against the Thai Buddhist majority. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the region since 2004.

"This award makes me believe that this university has absolutely no idea about what is really happening in Indonesia. Minority groups have been prosecuted, churches are facing closure, where's the tolerance?" he said.

Bonar said during his tenure as minister Suryadhama has not had any significant impact in maintaining the religious tolerance in Indonesia. "Over the past few years religious narrow-mindedness has been growing, a lot of people think their religion is better than the others," he said.

Indonesia has come under fire from human rights groups and international observers in recent years over the government's reluctance to temper intolerance or address the oppression of religious minorities.

Human Rights Watch, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and the Setara Institute have all issued recent reports detailing instances of faith-based violence and criticizing local government officials of cowing to pressure from hard-line Islamists. The Setara Institute cited 264 instances of violence directed at religious minorities last year alone.

The Princess of Naradhiwas University did not respond immediately to requests for a comment.