Google – AFP, 8 April 2013
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| AddIndonesian
minority religious leaders protest against religious intolerance in Jakarta on April 8, 2013 (AFP, Adek Berry) |
JAKARTA —
Around 200 Christian, Muslim Shiite and Ahmadiyah leaders protested in the
Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday against growing religious intolerance in
the Sunni Muslim-majority country.
The rally
of minority groups followed the demolition of a church and the closure of an
Ahmadi mosque, both in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, in recent weeks after pressure
from Muslim hardliners.
The leaders
-- most of whom were Christian -- gathered outside the parliament building,
singing the country's national anthem and shouting "we have rights"
and "stop intolerance".
They also
waved Indonesian flags and banners emblazoned with photographs of the
demolished church and sealed Ahmadi mosque.
"It's
a basic human right to be able to practise one's faith in peace. Aren't we all
Indonesians, why are we treated like the hated stepson?" Guido Suprapto, a
pastor from the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia, told AFP.
The group
also met with the chairman of the national legislature, Taufiq Kiemas, to
demand President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono do more to protect minorities and
guarantee religious freedom.
"The
president must do something to stop the serious violence and discrimination
against us and accommodate the needs of various faiths to have a house of worship,"
Suprapto said.
While
Christians and Ahmadis -- who do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and
are regarded as heretics by hardliners in Indonesia -- have seen their places
of worship closed, Shiites have been subjected to violent attacks.
In August,
a mob of hundreds armed with sickles and swords hacked a Shiite man to death
and torched more than 30 houses in the town of Sampang, East Java province.
Shiites and
Sunnis agree on the fundamentals of Islam, but disagree over the question of
who were the true successors of Prophet Mohammed as leaders of the emerging
Muslim community.
Ninety
percent of Indonesia's 240 million people identify themselves as Muslim but the
constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
