Police Called to Crack Down on Intolerance in Tanjung Balai Riot

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Setara Institute's Director for Research, Ismail Hasani, said that the riot in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra is a form and reflection intolerance that manifested into an act of violence that should have never happened.

Although the source of the violence began with a misunderstanding, Hasani said that even the slightest misunderstanding could spell out big troubles in intolerant societies. "Especially, now that we know that there are suspected individuals who provoked the riot," said Hasani through a press release to Tempo on Sunday, July 31, 2016.

Through the release, Setara Institute strongly condemns the destruction of places of worships in Tanjung Balai, and appreciates the move on the police's part to immediately bring together religious community leaders to begin the recovery process. Setara Institute also appreciated the North Sumatra's Religious Harmony Forum as a well-functioning form that is able to play a more active role in promoting religious harmony.

Hasani also called on the National Police (Polri) to immediately crack down and hunt the individuals behind the violence, and called on the public to remain calm in order to prevent further clashes from occurring. "This is especially important at times where intolerance is on the rise," he said.

The burning of two monasteries and five temples in Tanjung Balai began with a misunderstanding among local residents. According to the Head of Tanjung Balai Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Ayep Wahyu Gunawan, the incident began on Friday, July 29, 2016, where a resident who goes by the initials 'M', complained about the adzan [the Islamic call for prayer] from a mosque in front of her house.

'M' then became embroiled with the mosque's attendees - and local police had attempted to mediate the misunderstanding between the conflicting parties along with the local-subdistrict officials. During the mediation, an individual who took part in the mediation spread a chain-message through a social media account, which falsely stated that the mosque in question was no longer allowed to announce the adzan -which sparked the fury of Tanjung Balai`s Muslim people.

DIKO OKTARA