ICC Note:
Indonesia is on the path to greater religious intolerance. The Jakarta Post observes that there has been a constant trend of increased religious conflict in the country. Divisive language and the politicization of religion have contributed to this, and the Jakarta Post notes that hardline Muslim organizations such as the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI) have championed this. But the rise in tension among religions is a trend which was established long ago through vague anti-blasphemy laws. These laws have allowed hardline Muslims to attack religious minorities and given “gmajority religions the right to impose their will according to what they subjectively believe is right and prosecute what they subjectively believe is wrong.” Christians are often persecuted in Indonesia, and the blasphemy laws are just one of the tool used to allow them to be persecuted legally.
1/27/2017 Indonesia (Jakarta Post) – There is no doubt that Indonesia’s Muslim leanings have shifted to a more intolerant state from where they were 10 years ago. One needs only to see the recent turmoil to understand the gravity of this shift: the explicit acceptance of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), the massive turnout at the divisive 4/11 and 2/12 rallies last year and the support by many for FPI leader Rizieq Shihab’s aggressive and demeaning description of Christians is a small sample of many indications.
But one needs to understand that this is not a big-bang phenomenon. Indonesia’s growing intolerance has been brewing for longer than one would want to recognize. We may recount that in 2008, the FPI burned down houses of Ahmadiyah followers, in 2009, the Bekasi government closed the HKBP Filadelfia church, in 2010, the Bogor government defied the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the establishment of the GKI Yasmin church and in 2012 Shia Muslims in Sampang, Madura, were relocated by force.
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