Christians in Indonesia continue to face persecution as fears of escalating violence remain following the recent wave of forced church closures.
Last Sunday, Christians in Jatimulya, East Bekasi, in West Java were attacked by hundreds of Islamic extremists in West Java as they worship in the streets. The incident began when the Christians found a group of approximately 300 radical Muslims laying down their prayer mats and conducting an Islamic worship service on the street that the Christians had previous held worship since their church closures five week ago.According to the Barnabas Fund, the Christians proceeded to move to another street to worship but the extremists approached them and began to mock and insult them, demanding that they disband.
In its report, the Barnabas Funds noted that "a female church leader was pushed and shoved until she fell into a drain.”
Meanwhile, the police who were on duty “stood by and watched the mob while a few even joined in the attack,” the persecution watchdog group added.
The victims of last week’s persecution, consisting of members from three different churches, had been forced to worship on the streets due to closure of their churches – a growing trend in West Java.
The Mayor of Jatimulya ordered the closure of the three churches five weeks prior to the incident while a radical Muslim group called the Alliance Against Apostasy enforced the closure, according to the Barnabas Fund.
Despite the protection of freedom of religion included in the constitution of Indonesia, church buildings have been closing at an alarming rate and Christians have been prohibited from holding house church services and thus forced to gather on streets each Sunday for worship.
Some reports indicate that up to 30 churches are being closed each month. In Jakarta, police collected information on 18 churches which are soon expected to close. In Malang city, 24 churches are under the threat of church closure.
Although no one was seriously injured in the incident on Oct. 16, Christians in West Java fear that the violence will escalate in the near future.
In Poso, Sulawesi, where there have been three assassinations in the past two weeks, churches in Poso and Paulu were placed under police guard during the weekend of Oct. 15-16.
Michelle Vu
Christian Today Correspondent
