Meetings in Bandung between interfaith and youth groups open minds and eliminate prejudices
Fanny Syariful Alam
Indonesia’s diversity is well known for its languages, peoples, as well as world and local religions. This diversity, however, doesn’t always sit well with everyone. Since the country’s independence in 1945, its constitution (UUD 1945) has secured its citizens’ religious rights and the state’s protection for those conducting their religious activities. Specifically, Art 29 of the constitution mandates the state to secure and protect the citizens’ religious rights, further imposed in Art 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified in Law no 12 of 2005.
Interfaith relations are often difficult and violent - particularly in West Java province. The Setara Institute’s research ranks this province as the second most intolerant in the country. This province and its capital, Bandung, regularly registers high rates of persecution against different religious groups in areas where a religious majority lives. Such discrimination has included closing houses of worship, as well as the restriction and disbandment of religious activities.
Yeni Kusuma, a Hindu Women's community representative, emphasised that these situations align with the disengagement of society members from other religious communities due to misunderstandings or suspicion against them. Yeni also stated that it is rare to find meetings that gather interfaith community members to discuss and clarify what other religious communities teach to their followers. This condition aligns with the findings of a major survey regarding young people and intolerance in Indonesia.
In 2021, the Center for the Study of Islam and Society of the State Islamic University Jakarta (PPIM UIN Jakarta), launched the results of this research, Kebinekaan di Menara Gading: Toleransi di Perguruan Tinggi (Diversity in the Ivory Tower: Religious Tolerance in Higher Education), highlighting the tendency of intolerant and segregated behaviour among young people viewed from the context of Indonesian diversity. The PPIM's study included young people at three State Islamic Universities in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Despite the high percentage of 'tolerant' students, it found there were unstable internal and external empathetic values between their students, lecturers and academic staff.
Other related findings from this study revealed incidences of radicalism being implicitly incorporated in schools through literature and extra-curricular activities, Islamic religious teachers’ interpretations, leading to dissemination of intolerance for their students. Social media and the internet more broadly was highlighted as being the main alternative source, apart from schools, for students and young people to study the Islamic religion. Unfortunately, social media also facilitates the dissemination of hatred and radicalism, which results in the development of extremism in Indonesia. LSI’s survey results emphasised this finding, underscoring that young people, as active social media users, tend to be intolerant. In recent times the number of young people, particularly university students, exposed to radicalism has risen greatly.
The journey begins
For two weeks in August 2024 a series of discussions were organised by the Bandung School of Peace Indonesia (SEKODI Bandung), titled ‘The Journey of Interfaith’. The gatherings were hosted by young believers from different religions and provided opportunities for them to address questions about their faith, such as,
‘Are Buddhist teachings only for Chinese or can everybody study them?’
‘Do Christians only pray on Sundays and how are the different interpretations of Christianity related to each other?’
‘What is the main difference between Ahmadi practices of Islam in comparison to Sunni and Shiite Islam?’
‘Many people think that local beliefs are a kind of mysticism based on superstition. Is that true?’
SEKODI is supported by the Inklusif Foundation, which promotes freedom of religion and beliefs, and by Bandung Bergerak, a community-based media company. The discussions involved leading religious figures representing Ahmadi, Buddhism, Christianity, and Budi Daya (a local religion) beliefs. Approximately 15 to 20 young people took part, each from different educational and religious backgrounds, bringing their own unique perspective to the discussions.
In our meeting with Jemaah Ahmadiyya Indonesia (JAI), Denny, an Ahmadi who lives in Bandung, said that Ahmadis have become used to the discriminative practices against them. ‘We cannot forget what the local government in Garut (a region in West Java) has done to close our mosque as well as restrict all of the Ahmadi society to worship and even ask them to relocate.’ He added ‘We are also Indonesian citizens and we are not doing anything against the government and its law despite their discriminatory actions and laws.’
In our meeting with the Christian community we discovered that the Pasundan Christian Church, familiarly known as Gereja Kristen Pasundan, located in Dayeuhkolot, Bandung, has been applying for a church licence for the past 20 years without any legal results. This is despite the church’s efforts to meet the legal requirement by the Joint Ministerial Regulation 2006 about the Requirements for Establishing Worshipping Houses, such as securing approval from at least 90 locals in the neighbourhood. The Church Pastor, Pendeta (Pdt) Cliff, mentioned that such a process is usually not confirmed by local officials. This practice can continue to the level of the regional Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Forum for Religious Harmony, leading to the withdrawal of support from those who have supported the church's legality. He added that as a result, the church congregation members must go for their Sunday Service in the Chapel of Immanuel Hospital, approximately 15 kilometres from Dayeuhkolot.
Opening minds, eliminating bias and prejudices
The Bandung School of Peace Indonesia (SEKODI Bandung) initiated these meetings due to the relatively perilous state of interfaith relations in Bandung, frequently marked by disengagement and mismanagement from the regional government and local governments, and which later led to disharmony and prejudice among local communities.
Participants were enthusiastic when joining the meetings. At the Ahmadiyya meeting, Yohanes Chrissanto said, ‘The meeting provides me a safe space to learn diverse religious teachings directly from credible sources, especially about Ahmadiyya, whose information on social media usually misleads the public and hence, generates bias and prejudices, leading to discrimination and persecution.’ At the meeting in which participants were encouraged to ask questions about Christianity, one participant, Zilan, remarked, ‘The meeting about Christianity opened my mind and gave a different perspective showing that Christianity is not as terrifying as I thought’. Meanwhile, Syafira, from the International NGO Forum for Indonesia Development (INFID) underlined the importance of this meeting as an advocacy platform led by young people. She believed the meeting could be valuable in eliminating disparities and discrimination.
Youth groups in Bandung have recently initiated steps to promote tolerance and coexistence. These initiatives may take the form of discussions and informal meetings (just as we do every week) or others, but also city tours and movie screenings.
In this context, The Bandung School of Peace Indonesia (SEKODI Bandung) initiated the Journey of Interfaith to encourage young people and the public to acknowledge the start of harmonious interfaith relations and related dynamics, such as the potential for persecution encountered by religious minorities. Despite the hardship of convincing local governments about the promotion of interfaith relations, the work for advocacy and meetings to engage the public and diverse religious communities is constant.
Awareness-building processes continue in Indonesia, a country that claims to respect diverse religious lives, but the reality shows that there is much intolerance towards religious minorities.
Fanny Syariful Alam (fannyplum@gmail.com) is the Regional Coordinator of Bandung School of Peace Indonesia (SEKODI) and a Social Activist for Youth Empowerment in Peace and Human Rights.
