Following the recent dismantling of his Tiga Mojang (Three Ladies) statue in Bekasi, Nyoman Nuarta has called on members of the public to explain claims that the statue is obscene and blasphemous.

 Nyoman said the groups' interpretation of the statue was silly and utterly misleading. I made the statue by considering aspects of local [West Javanese] culture and never thought about attaching any religious symbol to it.

Why did I make it three [ladies]? It was simply because the statue would be put in the center of a boulevard circle so it could 'welcome' motorists from all surrounding three streets.

He also denied that the statue had shown obscenity: I am a master of beautiful statues. If someone feels offended by such works of art, please ask them which part of the statue makes them feel sexually aroused? he said.

On Saturday, the Bekasi municipal administration decided to take down the statue, which resembles three ladies standing in traditional West Javanese attire, after a series of protests from local hard-line Islamic groups which have considered the statue obscene and symbolizing the Christian Trinity concept.

Update: Religious Tit for Tat

23rd June 2010. Based on article from thejakartaglobe.com

The ludicrous removal of the Three Ladies statute has revealed on ongoing religious tussle in Bekasi, a city neighbouring Jakarta.

The congregation of the HKBP Filadelfia Protestant church in Bekasi, has been holding services on the roadside after the city prohibited the church from holding religious activities. Needless to say that this has resulted in angry muslim demonstrators demanding they pray elsewhere.

Rev. Palti Panjaitan, leader of HKBP Filadelfia spoke of one such incident: Around 6:30 a.m., there was an announcement at the mosque next to our church calling people to demonstrate. Half an hour later around 200 people crowded in front of our church with drums, shouting statements about jihad. He called the police, who drove the protestors away at around 8:30 a.m. When the protesters saw some members of the congregation they hurled terrorizing statements. A lot of my members cried and immediately went home, refusing to come back to church. The protesters called us names, calling us haram [forbidden by Islam], and threatened to kill us, he said.

In view of the increasing religious tension in Bekasi, members of hard-line muslim groups gathered to discuss a coordinated response to bring the city more in line with Islamic principles.  Habib Rizieq Shihab leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), gave a speech claiming that: the phenomenon of 'Christianization' is happening not just in Bekasi but all over Indonesia.

Abdul Qodir Aka, a local official with the FPI, told the Jakarta Globe that the congress's objective was to create recommendations for the Bekasi administration on what steps it should take in the wake of recent incidents of defamation of Islam.

Abdul Qodir was referring to Abraham Felix, a 16-year-old student of SMA 5 high school in Bekasi. Pictures of Abraham stomping on a Koran, the Islamic holy book, and one of him allegedly putting it in a toilet were posted on a blog, enraging the local Islamic community. Police arrested Abraham in May on suspicion of creating the blog. He was charged with Article 156 of the Criminal Code for religious blasphemy.

Abdul Qodir said that the Islamic Congress was supported by the Bekasi administration, and was the culmination of talks between members of the local FPI chapter and Mayor Mochtar Mohamad.  Abdul Qodir said: We also demanded the removal of the Tiga Mojang [Three Girls] statue.  The statue in the Harapan Indah residential complex was taken down on at 12 a.m. on Saturday by the Bekasi administration, following pressure from the FPI, which deemed the statue at odds with conservative Muslims' views.

Update: War against Christianization

30th June 2010. Based on article from thejakartaglobe.com

In a move that could add to already simmering religious tensions in Bekasi, a new group calling itself the Bekasi Islamic Presidium is planning a roadshow aimed at persuading every mosque in the city to prepare for the possibility of war against Christianization.

The group, consisting of nine members representing different Islamic organizations in the city, was formed on the last day of the Bekasi Islamic Congress at Al Azhar Mosque that was convened to address the so-called Christianization problem.

Among its recommendations is the formation of Islamic militant groups, or laskar, within each mosque and the drafting of Shariah-based policies by the Bekasi administration.

All Muslims should unite and be on guard because … the Christians are up to something, Murhali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), told the Jakarta Globe: Apparently they want to test our patience. We are planning to invite them for a dialogue to determine what they really want. If talks fail, this might mean war.

Abdul Qadir Aka, secretary general of the proselytization board at FPI Bekasi, said the militant groups were important: When the need arrives we will have units that can be mobilized. We cannot just depend on the FPI. We have hundreds and even thousands of mosques in Bekasi. Imagine what we can do together.

The units, he said, would also serve as morality police targeting activities such as drinking alcohol, prostitution, casual sex and gambling, all forbidden in Islam.

Around 300 Muslim protesters and 300 police officers surrounded members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church as they worshiped in an open field in Bekasi.

There were many police on guard, but the attackers were able to get very close to the congregation, Theophilus Bela, president of the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum, said in a statement to international government and advocacy groups. We are afraid that they will attack the church again next Sunday.

Police held back the shouting protesters while the church worshiped, but at one point they allowed Murhali Barda, leader of the Front Pembela Islam (FPI or Islamic Defenders Front) in Bekasi, through the cordon for an angry confrontation with church leaders, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

The 1,500-strong congregation, established some 15 years ago, initially met in each other's homes before purchasing a residential property in the Pondok Timur housing complex in Bekasi for use as a worship building. The group then met in the building while they waited for local officials to respond to a building permit application filed in 2006.

When Muslim neighbors in December objected to the meetings in the housing complex on the grounds that the church had no permit, officials banned church members from meeting there. As the local government had delayed the processing of its application for a building permit, the church ignored the ban, leading officials to seal the building on June 20.

Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohammad on July 9 said he would allow the congregation to meet in public areas or at the city hall, according to the Globe. Pastor Simanjuntak chose to move to the proposed building site, and Sunday meetings at the field in Ciketing were soon greeted by crowds of protesters.

The FPI's Barda said the church's insistence on worshipping at the site was a provocation. He also accused Christians in Bekasi of attempting to convert Muslims away from their religion, citing a recent Internet report claiming that the Mahanaim Foundation, a local Christian charity, had carried out a mass baptism of new converts.

Pastor Simanjuntak has said that she and her church will continue meeting in the field, as they have nowhere else to go.

Update: Christians attacked by muslim mob

12th August 2010. Based on article from religionnewsblog.com

Another mob attack on Christian worshipers in Bekasi occurred on Sunday. About 20 members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Pondok Timur Indah were chased and beaten with sticks by a mob believed linked to the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) after they tried to conduct Sunday services at a field in Ciketing, Bekasi.

The attack comes a day after Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo drew criticism for attending the hard-line group's anniversary party and asking it to report abuses of religious laws over Ramadan.

Saor Siagian, the church's legal representative, said more than 20 members of the congregation were assaulted on Sunday. We already reported this to the National Police and I also accompanied them for a medical examination at the Kramat Jati Police hospital, he said.

A Christian worshipper was stabbed in the stomach and a minister attacked with a wooden plank as they travelled to morning prayers in Bekasi, Indoenesia.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion has fallen on Islamic hardliners.

In recent months, they have thrown shoes and water bottles at the church members, interrupted sermons and dumped feces on the land.

Local police chief Imam Sugianto said Asia Sihombing, a worshipper, was on his way to the field when assailants jumped off a motorcycle and stabbed him in the stomach. The Rev Luspida Simanjuntak was then hit on the head as she tried to come to his aid.

Leading the charge against the Batak Christians has been the Islamic Defenders Front, which is pushing for the implementation of Islamic-based laws in Bekasi and other parts of the nation. They are known for smashing bars, attacking transvestites and going after those considered blasphemous with bamboo clubs and stones. They also pressured the local government early this year to shutter the Batak church. Perpetrators are rarely punished or even questioned by police.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who relies heavily on Islamic parties in parliament, has been widely criticised in the media for failing to crackdown on hardliners. But he did call on authorities to investigate and to hold accountable those responsible for the latest attack.

Update: Arrested

19th September 2010. Based on article from bangkokpost.com

Indonesian police have detained an Islamic leader over an armed assault on Christian elders which confirmed ongoing fears for pluralism in Indonesia.

Police said well-known Islamic radical Murhali Barda could face up to 12 years in prison for inciting violence and assault, after a group of men stabbed a Christian elder and bashed a priest.

Update: Light Sentences

18th March 2011. See article from compassdirect.org

Human rights and Christian leaders said a West Java court's light sentence for Islamic extremists who injured a church pastor and an elder will encourage more violence and religious intolerance.

After prosecutors decided to file minor charges citing insufficient evidence for assault charges, the judges issued verdicts that have injured people's sense of justice, and the light sentences set a rotten precedent for strengthening the rule of law in Indonesia, according to the institute.

The alleged planner of the attack, Murhali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), received a sentence of only five months and 15 days for disorderly conduct (Section 335) even though he should have been prosecuted for incitement and joint assault, Siagian said.

The trial brought to light facts that pointed toward incitement by Murhali Barda via Facebook, text messages, and orders to the defendants to attack the congregation of HKBP on Sept. 12, 2010 at Ciketing, said Siagian. If he had been charged with Section 170 he would have been facing a five-to-nine-year sentence, and Section 160 [incitement] carries a six-year sentence. These are both felonies.

Judges of the State Court in Bekasi, West Java handed down a seven-month sentence to Adji Ahmad Faisal, who stabbed church elder Sihombing; the prosecutor had asked for sentence of 10 months. Ade Firman, who clubbed Pastor Simanjuntak hard enough to send her to the hospital for treatment, was given a six-month sentence; prosecutors had requested an eight-month sentence. Two under-age defendants were found guilty and turned over to their parents.

Update: Ongoing Hassle

23rd September 2010. Based on article from christianpost.com

About 100 members of Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in the capital Jakarta gathered to worship while hundreds of police and security guards stood outside, reported The Jakarta Globe. Church members argued that they have the right to freedom of worship like other citizens of the world's most populous Muslim country.

We just want to carry out our obligations as Christians, but authorities are treating us like terrorists, said Advent Tambunan, a church member, to The Associated Press. There's no justice for us in this country.

Police had buses waiting outside the church Sunday to transport them to another location to worship. But the church members refused and negotiated with the police to allow them to hold their service at the site.

The government has offered to give the church a plot of land to build a new church, according to The Jakarta Globe. But the congregation has not decided whether to take up the offer.