Monday, September 13, 2010

Attack on Christians in Bekasi

On Sunday morning, some unidentified men attacked  a group of Christians as they headed to prayer at a field in Bekasi, West Java, fourty kilometers from Jakarta.

The attackers on motorcycles stabbed a worshiper Asia Sihombing on his stomach and pounded Reverend Luspida Simadjuntak in the face as she was about to help him.  

The attackers ranaway after the Police arriived at the scene of tragedy and none of them were caught.

According to media reports, the main cause of the tragedy was a dispute between local people who were mostly Muslims, and the Christian minority who wishes to build a church in the field. In spite of continuous protests, and no permit has been issued by the local government, the Christians have been praying there for almost 20 years.
Some people assumed that the attack was carried out by Muslim hard-liners, but the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) who is known for its hard line stance has condemned the attack.

President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) asked citizens not to be provoked by the tragedy saying that it was an ordinary criminal case and not an inter-religion case. He also instructed the Chief of National Police Gen. Bambang Danuri to investigate the case intensively and report directly to him.

I am very sad that this tragedy occurred only two days after Muslims celebrated Hari Raya Eid/ Lebaran. I hope that the Police would immediately arrest the attackers, so that they can be tried in the Court of law and be punished for their crimes.

Related media reports :
Christian worshippers attacked in Indonesia (The Associated Press).
Jakarta Police Chief: Attack on Church Leaders purely Criminal (The Jakarta Post)
Ciketing Church Warned to Move (The Jakarta Globe)
Mencari Sisi Lain Pemberitaan HKBP Bekasi (Politikana)

12 comments:

colson said...

Bekasi has a dubious reputation by now.

The words spoken by the President are reasonable; this should indeed be handled like a criminal offence. The problem though is that in similar cases it often was left at these words.

Unknown said...

Treat it like a criminal offence and a repeat will be less likely.

peter

Sy said...

hmmm.Where is the love? I think peaceful means of demonstration is always more startling and effective

Unknown said...

@Colson,
Yes the President's words are reasonable as always. With high profile exposure of this case, I believe that the implementation would be extremely serious
As I wrote this, the police has named 9 out of 10 witnesses as suspects.

@Peter/Kiwi,
Yes, and that's what the police is doing now.

@Sy,
According to the police, the suspect attackers said that they acted violently because they are very angry that the prayer kept going on for so many years in spite of govt's refusal to give permit. Let's hope for the result of police investigations.

Yari NK said...

It is anyone's right to disfavour Christianisation, Islamisation and the like. But to commit stab or violence is another thing. It's breaking the law and is barbaric. The perpetrators must be detained and prosecuted as soon as possible...

Unknown said...

Yari,
This tragic incident is one of the series of tragedies that's been happening since Eid.
Starting from the death of the man at the palace, and the death of 3 Russian jet fighter technicians. What a strange and sad coincidence.

TUKANG CoLoNG said...

oknum FPI lagi ya?

Unknown said...

TUKANG CoLoNG,
Mereka sih bantah malah mengutuk.

Anonymous said...

Kasus ini pasti ada sebabnya? Yang saya dengar bahwa Cristians itu dinilai masyarakat sekitar belum memenuhi syarat utk mendirikan rumah ibadah yakni gereja tapi pihak Christian tetap bersikukuh ingin mendirikan rumah ibadah. Jadi, masalah ini harus mempertemukan pihak Cristians dan masyarakat setempat sehingga tidak berat sebelah. Mengenai penusukan, entahlah....

Unknown said...

Anonymous,
Sebenarnya saya "risi" menjawab komentar dari orang yang tidak mau menyebutkan namanya. Kalau anda sebut nama dan blog anda tentunya kita bisa jadi teman.
Menurut berita masalahnya sudah berlangsung belasan tahun.
Pihak berwenang tidak memberi izin tapi juga tidak melarang kegiatan ibadahnya. Seharusnya kalau disitu tidak boleh dicarikan daerah lain yang boleh.

Andi said...

Yah, maap seribu maap,mungkin ini adalah bukti ketidaktegasan pemerintah daerah....

Unknown said...

Andi,
Anda benar ini bukti tidak tegasnya pemerintah daerah (dan pusat).