After a dispute that lasted 15 years, members of the GKI[*] Yasmin Church in Bogor City finally got their own place of worship on Easter Sunday; however, the new building remains controversial, as some faithful refuse to use it.
In 2006, local authorities in Bogor (West Java) granted a permit (IMB)[†] to the GKI congregation to build a church near the Taman Yasmin housing complex, which they revoked in March 2011, following protests by radical Muslim groups claiming that the place of worship undermined communal peace.
The following year, Bogor’s mayor proposed to build the church at a different location, in West Bogor district. Some members of the Yasmin congregation refused the offer, arguing that giving in to pressure would set a bad precedent for minorities, already subject to government decisions.
Two days ago, Easter Sunday, Mayor Bima Arya handed over the new building to GKI leaders at a ceremony attended by several high-level officials, including Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin (Mahfud MD), Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, and National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)[‡] Chairwoman Atnike Nova Sigiro.
Although the mayor hailed the new church as a "peaceful solution" to a crisis that went on for 15 years, the inauguration has deepened a rift within the GKI Yasmin congregation, pitting those who are happy with the new place of worship and those who refuse to attend it.
For some members of the congregation, the new building cannot be regarded as the “best peaceful solution" Bogor authorities could have found; in their view, the latter failed to respect the constitution and Pancasila, the Indonesian state philosophy.
In their view, the authorities “ignored the legal ruling granting GKI Yasmin land at its first site, not another place.”
Bona Sigalingging, spokeswoman for GKI Yasmin, told AsiaNews that the solution proposed by the Bogor administration ignored the fact that the Church owned other assets at the original site.
For other members, the new church is just a "political gimmick" by people in power to win votes ahead of next year's general election.
[*] Gereja Kristen Indonesia, Indonesian Christian Church, a Presbyterian denomination.
[†] Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian.
[‡] Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia.