The government is currently drafting a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) on Maintaining Interfaith Harmony to facilitate permits for the establishment of houses of worship. In the draft, parties wishing to establish a house of worship only need to obtain one recommendation from the head of the local Ministry of Religious Affairs office, and no longer need a recommendation from the Interfaith Harmony Forum (FKUB).
Vice President Ma'ruf Amin criticized the rule change. He reminded Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas not to simply cross out the involvement of FKUB in providing recommendations for building houses because the FKUB recommendation is an agreement from each religious council recognized in Indonesia.
Ministry of Religious Affairs Spokesperson Mariana Hasbie explained that the Draft Presidential Regulation on Maintaining Interfaith Harmony has been discussed since 2021, as a follow-up to public aspirations regarding the review of Joint Regulation of the Minister of Religious Affairs and the Minister of Home Affairs No. 9 and 8 of 2006 concerning the establishment of houses of worship which several parties considered to have “many obstacles in the field.”
The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Mariana added, has begun the study by inviting various related parties, from ministries to religious and community leaders. From various discussion forums, work meetings and studies, the draft of the Perpers was prepared.
“As the name suggests, the draft Presidential Regulation regulates the roles and responsibilities of various parties at the central, provincial, and district/city levels. In terms of maintaining religious harmony, the role and responsibilities of FKUB are also regulated in this draft that has been discussed at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs level,” he told VOA.
In the draft Presidential Regulation, FKUB will be optimized for activities to maintain harmony between religious communities by forming a national FKUB, then it will also regulate the representation of women in the forum and how FKUB will coordinate with the local government.
Progressive steps
Setara Institute Executive Director Halili Hasan appreciates the progressive step of eliminating the FKUB recommendation requirement, which is considered more compatible with Indonesia's diversity system consisting of various religious identities and beliefs.
Halili said that in many cases, FKUB is indeed one of the actors – as well as a factor – that becomes an obstacle in the process of submitting applications for the establishment of a house of worship because FKUB membership is an “extension” of the local majority group.
This happened because the FKUB membership was selected “proportionally,” not using a “representation perspective.”
“If we check several cases, FKUB is ultimately in a position to merely approve or disapprove, because its membership is an extension of the majority's power, so if it does not approve, the local majority does not approve of the establishment of a house of worship using the FKUB body,” he said.
He added that FKUB has not been optimal in preventing and handling various violations of freedom of religion and belief (KBB), especially disturbances of places of worship in various regions.
Disruption of places of worship
In the Report on the Condition of Religious and Belief Freedom issued by the SETARA Institute recently, it was discovered that throughout 2023, there were at least 65 places of worship that experienced disturbances. The disturbances were quite diverse, ranging from rejection of establishment, restrictions on establishment, prohibitions on establishment, to sealing of places of worship. This figure has increased compared to the previous year which reached 50 disturbances.
Even if drawn in a longer time spectrum, namely since the KBB research was first conducted by the SETARA Institute (throughout 2007-2023), there have been 636 disturbances to worship and places of worship. These disturbances include the dissolution and rejection of worship, rejection of places of worship, intimidation, vandalism, arson, and so on. All of these disturbances have affected minority groups in inter- and intra-religious relations.
FKUB, Halili added, must be focused on advancing interfaith harmony by increasing interfaith meetings or dialogues. Not giving or not giving recommendations for the establishment of houses of worship.
Until this report was submitted, there were still religious groups who had difficulty establishing houses of worship, simply because they had not received recommendations from the FKUB in their respective regions, and also administrative requirements in the form of 60 community supports and 90 identity cards for users of houses of worship.
The Executive Secretary for Justice and Peace of the PGI, Reverend Henry Lokra, said that in fact the FKUB recommendation in establishing a house of worship is not a permit, but rather like a “sowan” in the community so as not to cause conflict between community groups.
However, in practice, this “sowan” has become a problem because some FKUBs feel that giving recommendations or permits is their authority. Not infrequently, FKUBs have become tools for intolerant groups to support the ban on the establishment of houses of worship. If a dispute occurs, FKUBs also do not act as mediators to reconcile the two parties; something that has been criticized by many parties for a long time. (fw/em)
