"May was a cruel month for Indonesians trying to do nothing more than worship God. During an Ascension Day service on May 17th and May 20th, about 100 Protestant [Christians] were attacked by a muslim mob at their church in Bekasi on the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta. The mob hurled stones, bags of urine and death threats at the congregation. The church was stil only half-built when it was attacked; the pastor has been waiting for more than 5 years for permission from the local district administration to complete it. Since May 2nd local government officials in the [...] Muslim province of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, have closed at least 16 Christian churches, citing lack of permits."
"Such intimidation, and the ongoing rows over permits, are now so commonplace that they are barely reported. On May 26th, however, the issue of religious intolerance in this Muslim-majority nation made international headlines when Islamic hardliners forced the cancellation of a sold-out concert by Lady Gaga, an American pop-star. The Islamic Defenders Front (known by its initials in Indonesian, FPI) had threatened to provoke chaos if she entered the country. Her promoters said that they could not guarantee her, or her fans', safety. They were probably right."
"Critics argue that these are only the latest incidents in a remorseless rise of religious intolerance, and often violence. Human Rights Watch, a New York based lobby group, reports that incidents of sectarian violence became 'more deadly and more frequent' last year. Islamic hardliners not only attacked Christian churches but also [minority] Muslim sects such as the Ahmadiyah that they believe to be heretical. [...]"
"The government of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been accused of doing too little to stop such attacks, or to express enough concern about violent Islamic groups." [...] Certainly, cabinet ministers from the Islamic parties have been less than helpful in promoting Indonesia as the moderate, pluralistic country it claims to be. The religious affairs minister [...] has blamed the Ahmadiyah itself for inviting deadly attacks, saying it has strayed from mainstream islam. In March he suggested banning women from wearing skirts that were above the knee, calling them 'pornographic'. [...]
"[islamic groups] now feel that they can act with impunity. Sometimes the police are in cahoots with the hardliners. The situation continues to worsen."
The Economist, June 2012
