IN A speech before thousands of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) faithful gathered at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta in July last year to celebrate the organisation’s 85th anniversary, NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj reiterated an important message.

Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation, he declared, was to be characterised by “moderation, balance and tolerance”.

It was a sentiment many in NU’s youth wing took to heart last Christmas when they vowed to protect churches and Christians in Java from possible attacks by radical groups during the festive season.

Muslim-majority Indonesia prides itself on its religious tolerance. In recent years, however, the nation’s reputation has suffered as scattered incidents of violence against religious minorities have been reported across the archipelago.

In February last year, for example, three followers of Ahmadiyah, an Islamic minority sect, were beaten to death during an attack on the home of one of the sect’s leaders.

Many observers blame such violent outbursts on poor law enforcement. Mr Azyumardi Azra, director of graduate programmes at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, argues that “because the police failed to act, they (the militants) became bolder and bolder”.

Yet another aspect of the situation, however, is the extent to which religious conflict has a local rather than national focus.

Take Singkil, a kebupaten (district) located on the south-west coast of Aceh province. In the wake of local elections last month, local officials have closed at least 16 Christian undung-undungs on the grounds that they had been built without proper permits. Undung-undungs are small houses of worship not permitted to display a cross.

The local authorities now insist that only one church and four undung-undungs may be built in the entire district, despite about one-sixth of its population of around 120,000 being Christian — the highest proportion of any district in the province.

Many of these places of worship are run by the Pakpak Dairi Protestant denomination. Since the early 1930s, this district has been home to the Pakpak Dairi people, a minority Christian community with close cultural and religious links with North Sumatra’s predominantly Christian Batak tribes.

Aceh is a province at the northern tip of Sumatra island known for its implementation of syariah law.

Local media reports said the closures were carried out by local police and members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The FPI is a hard-line Islamic grouping well known in Java for its violent acts and raids on bars, massage parlours and gaming halls.

A closer look at the situation, however, suggests that the real motive for the church closures has more to do with local politics than religion. In Tenggara, another Aceh district with a significant Christian minority but no power struggle between rival political factions, all remains calm.

The trouble in Singkil began not long after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by several losing candidates in last month’s district election. Disaffected groups were also apparently upset that Christian minority support had ensured the victory of Golkar candidate Safriadi, himself a Muslim, in a multi-cornered contest. They began to pressure interim bupati (regent) Razali Abdul Rahman – a civil servant with no political affiliation – to close the undung-undungs.

It wasn’t always like that. Christian elders still refer fondly to the contributions of local Muslim leaders such as Mr Raja Hidayo, who did much to promote inter-religious tolerance in the district in the 1950s. “He used to attend Christian festivals such as Christmas and give advice,” Pakpak Dairi church leader Elson Lingga told The Straits Times last week.

Apart from a brief hiccup in 1960, when provocateurs from outside the district interrupted services to demand that churches be closed, inter-faith relations remained cordial until 1979.

In that year, and again in 2001, militants entered the district and evicted Christians from their homes, forcing many to flee to North Sumatra. On both occasions, however, the refugees were permitted to return after the authorities negotiated a peace agreement.

The district’s newly elected bupati takes office next month, but it is uncertain to what extent he may be willing to face down the militants by reopening the undung-undungs.

Church closures have also been reported recently in Riau and Bekasi, a satellite city located to the east of Jakarta. Many of these incidents have also been exacerbated by local political developments.

In his speech last July, Mr Said Aqil made a point of reminding NU members that “Indonesia is not a country based on religion or ethnicity, but a secular nation”. The message needs to be repeated more forcefully at the local level if Indonesia’s reputation for religious tolerance is to be preserved. 

(C) Singapore Press Holdings Limited