Destruction Of Christian Congregation's Prayer House Occurs Again, Commission VIII DPR Asks Perpetrators To Be Strictly Punished

Member Of Commission VIII DPR RI Maman Imanul Haq, Photo: Runi/vel/https://emedia.dpr.go.id/

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VIII DPR, Maman Imanul Haq criticized the incident of attack and destruction of a prayer house belonging to the Indonesian Christian Church (GKSI) Anugerah congregation that occurred in Padang Sarai, West Sumatra. Maman asked nine perpetrators who had been arrested to be charged with severe punishment.

According to Maman, this intolerant act injures national and humanitarian values that are upheld in state life. He emphasized that attacks and destruction of houses of prayer should not happen again.

"I strongly condemn the destruction of the Anugerah GSI house of worship in Padang Sarai. This is an intolerant act that cannot be tolerated in the Pancasila state. The perpetrators must be punished severely according to the applicable law," Maman told reporters, Tuesday, July 29.

Maman encouraged the legal process against nine people suspected of being involved in the destruction to run transparently and decisively indiscriminately.

"We must provide a deterrent effect. Law enforcement must not hesitate in handling cases of intolerance like this," said the PKB legislator from the West Java IX electoral district.

Furthermore, Maman also highlighted the importance of the role of local governments and security forces in preventing similar incidents from occurring. He considered the weakness of early detection and the lack of inter-religious dialogue approaches to be one of the triggers for repeated horizontal conflicts.

"The local government and officials must not be passive. There must be concrete preventive measures so that the destruction of houses of worship, regardless of religion, does not happen again. The state must be present to protect all its citizens, without exception," said Maman.

The member of the DPR RI religious commission also invited all elements of the nation to maintain harmony. "Let's strengthen tolerance as the foundation of community life in Indonesia," concluded Maman.

It is known that attacks and disbandment of worship activities took place at a prayer house belonging to the GKSI congregation on Sunday, July 27, afternoon. A number of residents of RT 03/RW 09, Padang Sarai Village, Koto Tangah District visited the location and dispersed the activity.

According to Pastor Dachi, the incident began with a misunderstanding from residents. Some residents consider the house used as a place for Christian education to be a church. In fact, the place is not a church.

From this incident, the West Sumatra Police have arrested nine people suspected of being involved in the attack and destruction of the GKSI Anugerah prayer house. The arrest was based on video footage circulating on social media.

Prior to this incident, the destruction of the House of Prayer also occurred in Cidahu, Sukabumi, West Java on Sunday, June 29. A total of eight residents became suspects in the destruction of the villa as well as the forced disbandment of a group of teenagers who were Christians.