Ulma Haryanto – A top government official has condoned the mob attack on a Christian-affiliated building site near Bogor, even as a church council called it symptomatic of the weak law enforcement that allowed the persecution of religious minorities.
Tuesday's attack in Cibeureum village saw a mob of men, women and children burn down a contractor's office and trash two vehicles at a building site for a retreat for the Christian education foundation BPK Penabur.
They mob reportedly attacked it because they believed, erroneously, that BPK Penabur planned to build a church at the site, even though the foundation only had a permit to build a company retreat.
Nasaruddin Umar, the director general for Islamic affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said the mob had lost faith in the local administration and non-Muslim organizations. "They're often lied to by these groups, who build these homes as cover for their activities," he said.
Nasaruddin called on regional administrations to be more discriminating in whom they issued building permits to. "Of course the local residents need to be approached first," he said. "Just as with any proposed building, you should first get your neighbors' permission to go ahead."
The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), meanwhile, was incensed at the attack and the subsequent lackadaisical investigation by authorities.
"I believe the state has committed a crime by condoning such acts of destruction, be it of a place of worship or of a building site with the proper permits," said the PGI's executive secretary, the Rev. Gomar Gultom.
He said the lack of arrests in the case was unacceptable, and also lambasted the absence of an adequate police presence in the first place. "The police's excuse that they need to 'evaluate the situation' before making arrests is nonsense, because it happened right in front of them," he said.
Gomar said public opposition to the planned retreat had been brewing for at least a week before the attack, so the police should have been prepared for it. "The inability of law enforcers to be relied on in incidents such as these is apparent too often," he said. "It's starting to look like their standard procedure."
He said BPK Penabur's seeming reticence in demanding justice was a sign of the growing apathy among Christian groups skeptical of any kind of protection from such attacks.
"Our people are tired of being treated like this, tired of complaining to no avail," he said. "We've tried everything – the police, the National Commission for Human Rights [Komnas HAM], even the president. Nothing's happened."
BPK Penabur spokeswoman Rewindinar said the foundation had handed the matter over to the authorities. "The damage caused was all accrued by the contractor," she said. "We don't know who's going to pay, so we're just waiting for the police investigation."
However, Cibeureum village official Sureyadi hinted that BPK Penabur had it coming, if the rumors were true that it planned to host "Christian activities" at the under-construction building.
"Any planned religious or ethnic activity must have the approval of 90 percent of local residents," he said. He also claimed the foundation had not properly engaged with the local community.
"Take the Taman Safari [animal park] when it first opened," he said. "They held an Islamic blessing ceremony and invited local residents. We all came, and we've been on good terms with the company since," he added.
Gomar said that for once Indonesia should follow the example of its neighbor Malaysia. "When churches were burned there, the prime minister stepped in," he said. "And Malaysia is a Muslim country, not a secular one like Indonesia."
A report released by a US governmental panel lists Indonesia as a country to be included in a watch list for violators of religious freedom.