In a province in Northern Sumatra, the local government has ordered several Christian churches closed and destroyed. This happened just days after an angry mob wielding weapons burned down a church, causing thousands of Christians to flee. Indonesia has a Muslim majority population, and the local government of the particularly conservative Aceh province decided to quell tensions between the two groups by dismantling 10 churches that were deemed “illegal”.
“Ten churches have been identified as not having proper permits and should be closed,” said Hambali Sinaga, head of the local chapter of the hardline group Islamic Defenders Front, as quoted by Reuters.
The government claimed that it had consulted the Christian groups who were involved and that these Christians had admitted that six of the churches were illegal due to a lack of building permits. The system of regulating the construction of places of worship is done via a local religious harmony system known as FKUB , where Muslim and minority religious heads meet up to discuss the matter. Muslims, however, have a veto on the permit decisions (A good way of preventing the expansion of a rival religion is, of course, to prevent them from obtaining local building permits in the first place. Hard-liners want ALL 22 churches in Aceh closed.)
The decision to destroy the churches apparently came with the consent of the Christian groups at one such FKUB forum; however, Pastors claim that the police had “forced [them] to sign” an agreement to tear down the churches.
“Of course, they were intimidated,” said a Human Rights Watch researcher, Andreas Harsono. “They told me that attending the meeting, they felt like they were on trial.” One priest has even been forced into hiding, after receiving death threats.
Local-govt-sanctioned demolition of the churches has already begun, with police hacking down four churches in order to “ensure security”. That’s right, you ensure the security of your minorities by destroying their places of worship FOR their attackers. Also, as George Orwell would say, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.
“The police were ensuring security for the local authorities,” said a national police spokesman, Brigadier General Agus Rianto. “To maintain order based on the agreement between those involved – the buildings did not have a permit.”
“The problem with these attacks on religious places of worship is that it always seems to be done within the realm of regulation, within the law,” said a moderate Muslim activist, Yenny Wahid. “The ones that are asked to be dismantled are the ones that did not get the permit.”
Sources: RT, The Guardian
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