SW News: Despite government assurance about protecting the rights of minorities in Muslim-majority Indonesia, Christian communities faced harassment from Islamic fundamentalists in two back-to-back incidents recently.

On August 9, a mob of Muslim hardliners armed with hammers and clubs inflicted damage on the walls of the under-construction prayer hall of the Pentecostal Mission Church in Indonesia in Kabil Village in Batam City. A video circulated on social media showed a Muslim stating that the Pentecostal Church had no permission to build a prayer hall in that location in Riau Islands Province. This is a common ploy adopted by fundamentalists to prevent members of the Christian community from building places of worship.

In Indonesia, it is an uphill task to obtain a permit to construct a church or prayer hall as such requests are often ignored or dismissed. According to Pastor Sham Sean Napitupulu of the Pentecostal Mission Church, the community did have a letter permitting the construction of a prayer hall issued by the Batam Free Zone Authority. Meanwhile, the local police and the chairman of the Batam Interreligious Communication Forum Chabullah Wibisono said there were no religious motives behind the damage inflicted on the building. They said it happened because the local residents wanted to use the site as a public facility.

In the Province of North Sumatra, a group of Muslim demonstrators arrived at Tanjung Morawa village to protest against the worshippers belonging to the Mawar Sharon Church making use of a warehouse for its Sunday service. They told the congregation not to build a place of worship at a nearby site. A video of the incident shows Muslim hardliners carrying banners that read “We, the residents of Sub-village 1, Tanjung Morawa village, refuse non-Muslims’ activities in this village,” and, “The residents of Sub-village 1, Tanjung Morawa Village, sternly refuse worship activities that are in violation of government regulations.”

This evangelical church owns a warehouse and it was being used for worship temporarily until a new prayer hall was constructed. According to Emmy Marlina, secretary to the pastor of the community, temporary places of worship do not require any permits. She said the director general of Christian Community Guidance as well as the Minister of Religion are seriously looking into the incident.