Official Bans Christmas Celebrations in District in Indonesia

The right to hold religious services is solidly stated in the Indonesian Constitution, said Yewangoe, a member of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), a newly established government body.

RELATED: Suicide Bomb Hits Palm Sunday Mass in Indonesia, 20 Wounded

“So it should be that everyone has that right,” he told Morning Star News. “That right is actually a human right which derives from God.”

There are no churches or other houses of worship for minority faiths in Maja District due to the strict regulations imposed on Christians and other minorities.

Of Lebak Regency’s more than 1.4 million inhabitants, 0.14 percent are Protestant Christians and 0.7 percent are Roman Catholics, Mumu Najamuddin, head of the Cross-Religious Forum of Lebak Regency states on the Banten Department of Religious Affairs’ website (banten.kemenag.go.id).

Social activist Ignas Iryanto Djou said Iti’s restriction contradicts the cultural values of the Sunda ethnic group to which she belongs.

“It is against the basic principles of the Sundanese community that inherently requires people to love each other regardless of differences,” Ignas told Morning Star News. “There are also three principles of interaction in Sundanese society – helping one another, loving one another and caring for one another to grow fully as human beings.”

All these values are in line with Pancasila, he said.

“And it is why Pancasila should be obeyed by all citizens without exception,” Ignas said. “Besides, the right to worship according to one’s beliefs is a basic human right that is recognized as an element of human rights.”

Contradicting National Permission

Iti’s announcement came a day after the Indonesian government confirmed that no restrictions on worship activities and celebrations would be applied to this year’s Christmas and subsequent New Year’s celebrations.

Muhadjir Effendy Muhadjir, coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, made the announcement during a security coordination meeting for Christmas and New Year’s at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Friday (Dec. 16), saying, “For this year, there will be no restrictions for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.”

Two years ago, a small number of Christians in two districts of West Sumatra Province – Dharmasraya Regency’s Pulau Punjung District and Sijunjung Regency’s Nagari Sungai Tambang – were prohibited from celebrating Christmas. The ban, authorities said, was imposed as the result of an agreement among leaders of various government officials and Muslim groups that excluded Christians in early December 2019.

Yewangoe of the BPIP said that in some areas of Indonesia, religious rights have been denied.

RELATED: Baptists Known for Excellence in Medical Care in Indonesia

“This indeed cannot yet be considered an indication or conclusion that harmony among religious people is broken,” he said. “But if religious rights have not been handled properly, of course over time it will break too.”

Reforms granting greater speech freedoms following the end of former President Suharto’s regime may have contributed to a backlash from Muslims, including injustice for those accused of religious defamation, Yewangoe said.

For example, a Christian convert from Islam, Mohammad Kace, was sentenced to 10 years on charges of blasphemy, while Yahya Waloni, a Muslim convert from Christianity, in January was sentenced to only five months in prison for hate speech. A two-star general and inmates reportedly smeared Kace with his own feces during his incarceration.

A Buddhist mother named Meliana in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra Province, in July 2016 complained about the sound of the call to prayer, and two years later – after Islamist rioting destroyed her home and 14 Buddhist temples – she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Massive protests helped obtain her release on parole in May 2019.