A fundamentalist group ends a prayer service at the Ganesha Cultural Center in Bandung, West Java, on Dec.6. (Photo supplied by Reformed Injili Events)
Muslim hardliners stormed and stopped a Protestant prayer meeting in a hall in Bandung, West Java on Dec.6, accusing such gatherings of being part of a Christian plot to convert Muslims.
Members of the hardline Defenders of Ahlus Sunnah group stopped Indonesian evangelist, Reverend Stephen Tong of the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia, from holding the event in Bandung's Ganesha Cultural Center, that had attracted hundreds of people.
They said Christian prayer was only allowed in a church, not in public buildings.
"It is against a law that prohibits the spread of religion to people who already embrace another religion," group coordinator, Muhammad Ro'in Balad said in a statement.
Similar events in the past have been used to convert Muslims to Christianity through healing services, he said.
Reverend Palti Panjaitan, chairman of a solidarity group for victims of religious persecution, said fundamentalist groups are trying to find excuses to limit Christian activities.
"There should be no problem with the hall because it is a commercial facility," he said, adding that it would not have happened if the government and police took the persecution of minority groups more seriously.
"Look at the difference, when Muslims hold prayers in Jakarta, the state facilitates them," said Panjaitan, referring to a rally on Dec. 2 when about 700,000 Muslims prayed on the streets of the capital.
Muhamadd Abdullah Darraz, executive director of the Maarif Institute for Culture and Humanity, said hardliners were depriving citizens of their rights.
"How about Muslims who always pray in public areas?" said Darraz, adding that despite being the majority, Muslims cannot apply the law arbitrarily.
Meanwhile, Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace criticized the police for not taking action against intolerant groups.
"If there is no action against this group then similar actions will spread. In the end the police will tell minorities to follow the will of intolerant people," he said.
Father Max Regus, a PhD candidate at Tilburg University, Netherlands who studies religious persecution in Indonesia, said that, in order to stop the persecution, the government must make a firm stand.
"In a situation where people do not fully accept plurality, the government must be present to uphold the constitution and guarantee freedom of worship," he said.