Jakarta Globe, Adelia Anjani Putri, Oct 30, 2014
Jakarta. The lone minister to survive the cut to President Joko Widodo’s cabinet from the previous administration has unveiled plans to draft a bill that would afford unprecedented protection to religious minority groups, continuing where he left off in his battle against rising religious intolerance.
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| Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin says all Indonesians should be allowed to follow and practice their own beliefs, free from persecution. (Antara Photo/Mohamad Hamzah) |
Jakarta. The lone minister to survive the cut to President Joko Widodo’s cabinet from the previous administration has unveiled plans to draft a bill that would afford unprecedented protection to religious minority groups, continuing where he left off in his battle against rising religious intolerance.
“Over the
next six months, we will work on this bill to protect all religious groups,
including those outside the six main religions of Islam, Catholicism,
Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism,” Lukman Hakim Saifuddin,
the minister for religious affairs, said at a press conference in Jakarta on
Wednesday.
“The bill
will protect everyone’s religious right, especially the rights guaranteed by
the Constitution,” he said. “First, the right to believe in whatever they
choose to put their faith in. There should be a guarantee that everyone is free
to choose their own religion or belief. Second, the independence for anyone to
practice their belief.”
He added he
hoped that “the bill can improve the quality of living in Indonesia.”
Lukman was
inaugurated in June, in the twilight of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
administration, following the naming of the previous minister, Suryadharma Ali,
as a graft suspect. In the short time since then he has shown a more
conciliatory stance than his predecessors on engaging with minority religious
groups, including Shiite and Ahmadi Muslims — with whom he held an
unprecedented breaking of the fast during Ramadan in July.
Suryadharma,
by contrast, was known for his hostility toward these groups, including a
public call for the Ahmadis to recant their “heretical” beliefs.
Lukman said
the new bill would target the closures and attacks on churches and Shiite and
Ahmadiyah mosques, one of the most egregious symptoms of the quasi-institutional
discrimination of religious minorities stemming from the near-impossible
administrative requirements laid out in a 2006 joint decree from the Religious
Affairs Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry for congregations of any faith
seeking a permit to build a house of worship.
“The bill
will have many implications, including in terms of the permit to build places
of worship,” the minister said. “There should be a clearer and stronger
regulation for this issue. Of course we need suggestions from the public so we
can accommodate their needs and interests.”
One of the
requirements stipulated in the joint decree is for applicants to get the signed
approval for their house of worship from the heads of 60 neighboring households
of a different faith. In Muslim majority Indonesia, Christian, Shiite and
Ahmadi applicants have almost invariably failed to get the required number,
while a few cases have been reported in parts of eastern Indonesia, which has a
large Christian population, of Muslims not being allowed to build mosques.
Lukman also
promised to address the long-running issue of Shiite and Ahmadi communities
being driven from their homes by mobs of Sunni Muslims — often with the support
of the local police.
“It’s a
complex problem,” he conceded. “It involves things related to officials like
the police, issues with local governments, problems within the local community,
and admittedly, problems related to religious beliefs.
“The steps
taken should be integrated and not partial. We’re working on it. Now we’re
communicating intensively with local governments where refugees [of religious
pogroms] are staying. Hopefully we can come up with the solutions,” Lukman
said.
He added
his ministry would also work with local Islamic clerics — who are often instrumental
in inciting hostilities against minority groups — to get them to embrace
religious tolerance.
“We’ll hold
interfaith forums for religious teachers to make sure that everyone has the
same standing,” he said. “Even though we have different beliefs, all religions
teach the same lesson of promoting humanity — making humans human.”
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“. New Tolerance
Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.
Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."
