Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas ordered his staff to proactively facilitate religious worship, responding to polemics in Candi Ijo, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta.
"This morning I ordered (again) the Director General of Hindu Guidance to facilitate the use of temples to worship Hindus by coordinating more progressively with the Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture", said the Minister of Religion as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 11.
The Minister of Religion said all citizens have the right to worship according to their beliefs. People who want to worship should not be hindered, let alone prohibited. On the other hand, he said, the government is also obliged to provide protection to anyone.
"But the apparatus in the field often does not understand the procedures that must be carried out. This must also be honestly admitted. So misunderstandings often arise," said the Minister of Religion.
The Minister of Religion hopes that this kind of problem will not happen again in the future and can be resolved with a cool head.
"Indonesia is strong because of the peaceful diversity that is maintained. If someone tries to make politics, just ignore it," said the Minister of Religion.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Hindu Guidance at the Ministry of Religion, I Nengah Duija, said that his party had now followed up on the issue and would re-collect Hindu temples in Indonesia which are still being used by people for religious activities by involving devices in the regions and the Directorate General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture.
"According to the direction of the Minister of Religion, we have followed up with long-term settlement efforts. This data will become a regulatory reference and will be socialized to the people, so that there will be no more misunderstandings," he said.
He also appealed to all parties to refrain from spreading provocations, especially on social media related to the incident in Candi Ijo.
"This is certainly a lesson for all of us, because worshiping in Hindu Temple is part of the rights guaranteed by law, but the Cultural Preservation Center as the manager of temples certainly has regulations that we must comply with," he said.
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Previously, there were many rumors that Hindu women were rejected when they wanted to worship in Candi Ijo.
Through the Tiktok account @zanzabella66, a woman named Zanzabella, said that she was not allowed to worship in Ijo Temple in Sleman Regency, DIY.
At that time he arrived at 18.00 WIB, while Candi Ijo had closed operations. Officers at Candi Ijo called Zanzabella as caretaker said that Ijo Temple is a cultural heritage, not a place of worship.
The Center for Preservation of Culture (BPK) Region X apologized in the aftermath of the many problems. BPK emphasized that the procedure in Candi Ijo must be adhered to.
"So I apologize if we are considered intolerant, no, no, we are (still) allowed. We are capable of all these interests. We just ask that the procedure be fulfilled," said Head of BPK Region X Manggar Sari Ayuati.
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