ekklesia, 20/11/05
Indonesian Christians in fear after attacks and beheadings
Christians and foreigners living in many parts of Indonesia, the word's most populous
Muslim nation, are increasingly fearful for their safety following the Bali bombings and
a series of brutal religious attacks over the past few weeks.
On Saturday police in Sulawesi announced that two young women had been attacked
on Friday by assailants on motorbikes armed with machetes. A 20-year-old woman
died and her friend was injured.
The authorities say that it is too early to tell if the latest attack was linked to the
deadly sectarian unrest simmering between the region's majority Muslim and minority
Christian communities.
The conflict began in 2001 when by rumours that a Muslim girl had been raped by a
Christian attracting the widespread attention of Indonesia's militant Islamists.
Since then combatants from outlawed groups such as Laksar Jihad and Jemaah
Islamiyah travelled to Poso with arms and, military training from Afghanistan. Some
Christian groups have also acquired weapons, but say this is purely for self-defence.
Thousands have died and more than 50,000 have fled over the past four years. In May
a bomb in Poso's largest Christian market killed 22 and injured 70 people. A second
bombing last week critically injured a young mother who was among 11 Christian
passengers in a van.
In Bekasi, West Java, 500 members of three churches closed down by Islamist
militants held a street service two weeks ago, but were confronted by a mob of 200
extremists. Both sides are now taking the dispute to the courts.
Three weeks ago, four cousins from the tightly-knit Christian community were
assaulted as they walked to the Central Sulawesi Christian Church High School Three
of the girls were beheaded. The youngest survived, despite deep machete wounds on
her neck.
The headless bodies of the women were dumped beside a busy nearby road. A day
after one of the funerals, two other Christian girls were shot by masked men as they
walked to a Girl Scouts' meeting. They are still in a critical condition.
Mainstream Muslims have denounced the atrocities, but there is general mistrust of
churches because of their rapid growth in recent years. The Christian population is
some 21 million out of a total of 210 million.
Radical groups have escalated campaigns to prevent the building of new churches.
They are also targeting the influx of Balinese Hindus to major cities such as Jakarta
and Yogyakarta.
In April last year shootings of Christians were reported in the Poso Pesisir district on
Sulawesi. In May 2004, the World Council of Churches called on the Indonesian
government to put an end to religious violence between Muslims and Christians in the
Malukus.
Indonesia's president has condemned such attacks, but critics say that the police
and the army do little to prevent them.
Most of the country's Muslims practice a peaceful version of the faith. But attacks
against Christians have increased since the end of ex-dictator Suharto's repression in
1998, and amid a global rise in Islamic radicalism.
[Also on Ekklesia: Church congregation attacked in Indonesia;
Christians remember dead after Indonesia bombings; Muslims condemn Indonesian
church attacks; Indonesian president in call for religious tolerance;
Christians face proselytism charges in Indonesia; Churches call on Indonesian
Government to address Malukus violence; Church agency condemns Indonesian
human rights decision]
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia
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