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JAKARTA: Muslims have stormed a church in Indonesia to force it to
close down, a resident and police said Thursday, in the latest
incident of religious intolerance in the archipelago nation.
The attack in West Java on Tuesday came after a
series of similar incidents targeting churches set up in Muslim
areas of the province.
“Four people have been detained for
questioning and are currently in custody,” Purwakarta district
police First Inspector Yadi said.
He refused to give details about the incident
but said the church, which was still under construction in Citeko
village, was now under constant guard by local police.
A resident of Citeko said Muslim villagers
stormed the church around midnight after Christians failed to take
their religious services elsewhere.
“The local leaders have asked them not to use
the building as a church as we are all Muslims here and those going
to the church are not from here,” resident Haji Ndang said.
Ndang denied press reports that some of the
residents tried to set the church on fire.
The Jakarta Post newspaper has said that more
than 30 churches have had to close their doors in West Java since
2004 because of attacks by Muslim hardliners.
Dozens of churches have also been forced to
close in other provinces, it has said.
According to a current decree by the religious
affairs ministry, houses of worship must obtain the approval of at
least 60 percent of local residents and have at least 90 followers
to be able to operate.
Indonesia is the world’s largest
Muslim-majority nation with almost 90 percent of its 234 million
people adherents of Islam.
-- AFP
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