One dead and three churches destroyed after religious clashes

Indonesian President Joko Widodo appealed for calm yesterday after one person was killed in violence that followed the burning of a church in Aceh.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, the majority of whom practise a moderate form of Islam.

Tension in Aceh continues to be growing amid raising conservatism that is Islamic in Indonesia as a whole and the state.

The district where Tuesday’s attacks took place is a Christian enclave, though correspondents say a few Christians have already left, fearing religious violence.

“We are carrying out patrols in the area with the help of military troops”, Rianto added, declining to comment on the total number of personnel that had been deployed.

Churches in Indonesia have seen forced closures by local officials and attacks by hard-line Muslim groups since the republic transitioned into a democratic era known as reformasi in 1998. Four others were injured, including one member of the police.

The police have named 10 people as suspects, but only officially detained three in the premeditated attacks and ensuing deadly clash.

“A clash occurred, and one man was killed after being shot in the head with an air rifle”, he said.

“Violence motivated by anything, especially religion and belief, damages diversity”, Widodo said on microblogging website Twitter.

It has been reported that hundreds of Muslim men attacked and set alight to two churches and one man was killed in a clash at a third church where Christians were thought to be defending a public building.

A peace agreement between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement in 2005 ended a long-running separatist insurgency that claimed more than 15,000 lives, mostly civilians. Also, in July, a mosque was razed in Papua, a Christian-majority province in eastern Indonesia, on the Islamic holy day of Aidilfitri.