By UCA News reporter
Rights activists and Christian leaders have called on Indonesian authorities to properly investigate recent desecration of Christian graves and to take measures to halt such attacks in future.
They have also demanded that law enforcers refrain from labelling such incidents as isolated cases not related to religious intolerance or hatred.
The reaction came after police in Yogyakarta province reportedly arrested a 16-year-old student on May 19, suspected of vandalizing Catholic and Protestant Christian graves in the province.
A total of 18 Christian graves were vandalized at the Ngentak Public Cemetery in Bantul Regency of Yogyakarta on May 16, media reports say. Another five vandalized graves are in the Baluwarti Public Cemetery in Kampung Kembang Basen.
Christian graves were reportedly vandalized in two other cemeteries in the province earlier this year.
The police did not disclose the full identity of the suspect, introduced him with the initials ANFS, and claimed he suffers from “mental illness.”
The suspect admitted the crime and said he acted alone, said Bantul Police spokesman Nengah Jeffry Prana Widnyana, adding that he will undergo “psychiatric tests.”
“This is not related to religion, more of a family issue,” he said, adding that he often fought with his mother after his father died.
In a statement, Tantowi Anwari from the Union of Journalists for Diversity, a media advocacy group, said such incidents of intolerance should get serious attention from the authorities.
“Cases of intolerance targeting minority groups are often trivialized by the government or local officials so that such incidents continue to occur. As a result, intolerance towards minorities is sometimes considered normal by the public and is not followed up by the authorities,” he said on May 25.
“Minorities not being respected in their deaths is a dark portrait of diversity,” he added. “Silence or toleration of acts of intolerance is a form of passive involvement that strengthens a culture of discrimination.”
The desecration of graves should get serious attention, says Bonar Tigor Naipospos, a Christian and senior researcher at Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a Jakarta-based advocacy group focused on democracy, political freedom and human rights.
“What is clear is that the destruction of graves is not a prank or just ordinary juvenile delinquency. This is related to hatred,” he said. “The underlying cause and background still need to be investigated.”
Abdul Halim, the chief government official in Bantul Regency, said the vandalism of graves was “illogical” and declined to “speculate” until the investigation is complete, according to a report by state-run Antara news agency
Radjut Sukasworo, a lawmaker from Yogyakarta Province, said a proper probe is essential to stop online and offline debates sparked by the grave desecrations.
He said that the police claimed the suspect was a Christian, but social media posts claimed he converted to Islam when he was in the sixth grade.
Truth should be revealed to put an end to divisive and biased discussions, he said in a social media post on May 26.
Father Aloysius Budi Purnomo, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops’ Commission on Interreligious Relations and Beliefs, expressed concern over the grave vandalism but declined to relate it to religious intolerance until the probe is complete.
“If there is such a motive, it is necessary to dig deeper to find out the reason that triggered hatred in a teenager for a religious symbol,” the priest told UCA News, insisting on a “truly objective” probe and no cover-ups.
He said the local Christian community was “anxious” since the grave desecration. “A harmonious and peaceful life must be maintained,” he added.
The desecration of Christian graves is not new in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
On Apr 6, 2019, Christian graves were vandalized at the Bethesda Mrican cemetery in Yogyakarta.
On Dec 17, 2018, local Muslim residents opposed the burial of a Christian man, Albertus Selamet Sugihardi, at the Jambon Public Cemetery, Yogyakarta.
He was buried with approval from the authorities, but the cross at his tomb was later vandalized.
In Jun 2021, a group of students from a nearby school vandalized Christian graves at the Cemoro Kembar Public Cemetery in Central Java province. – UCA News
