Catholic Youth Group Calls for Crackdown on Intolerant Groups
Jakarta. Jakarta-based Catholic Youth has protested the shutdown of a Christmas celebration by a Muslim group in Bandung, West Java, on Dec. 6, saying they hope there would be no repeat of the incident.
"We hope the government can guarantee the right and freedom of everyone to practice religious services. The government should not bow down to intimidation from intolerant groups," Catholic Youth secretary general Christopher Nugroho said in Jakarta on Thursday (08/12).
"The government should take stronger action against intolerant groups," Christopher said, adding that if these incidents are allowed to occur, they would threaten Indonesia's diversity.
"We regret deeply that the police stood idly by as an intolerant group disrupted a service that was perfectly legal. It showed that our law enforcers chose to bow down to intolerant groups, instead of protecting a congregation that was simply practicing their faith," he said.
Christopher said the police should punish the group in Bandung and others of similar ilk. The extremist group in Bandung should face legal consequences for disrupting and disbanding a religious service.
"If the police always submit to the whims of intolerant groups, there will be anarchy. It will trigger and spread conflicts in other regions. The police should crack down on intolerant groups, and protect minority groups," he added.
A group identifying themselves as the Defenders of Ahlus Sunnah, or PAS, disrupted a Christmas celebration at the Sabuga convention center in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday evening, triggering widespread condemnation.
PAS said the organizers of the event had not secured the required permit, a claim rejected by a source from the church committee — who asked not to be identified, and who said all the requirements to hold a church service in a public space have been met, including submitting notification letters to the local administration and the police.
The extremist group had carried a banner into the congregation that said "West Java Muslim community demands the celebration should be held at its designated space [church], not in a public space."
According to Indonesian law, public facilities can be used for religious events as long as organizers acquire permits from the authorities, such as on the Dec. 2 mass prayer-cum-rally in Central Jakarta which saw hundreds of thousands of Muslims took part in a Friday prayer at the National Monument and on the streets around it.
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