CIDISS. Violations of religious freedom are still rampant in Indonesia. Recent research from the Setara Institute shows that violations of religious freedom this year increased compared to last year. Director of the Equal Institute, Haili said, the factors that led to the increase in violations were the intensity of religious politicization in line with the political year. Based on the results of the research, there were 109 violations against religious freedom with 136 actions in 20 provinces. However, most of the events occurred in DKI Jakarta with 23 cases.
Based on the Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Yati Andriyani said the research results from the Setara Institute showed the current condition of Indonesia, especially ahead of the election of presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates. In the future, it is estimated that violations of religious freedom will increase and the seeds have been seen, namely in the Election of the DKI Jakarta Regional Head 2017. The main problem that is the cause is the persecution of cases of alleged blasphemy. In fact, the market used to interpret the accusations of religious abuse is still uncertain. On the other hand, large cases of alleged blasphemy are still full of political interests.
Another factor that led to widespread violations of religious freedom was the lack of law enforcement by the authorities and the lack of respect for minority groups in the community. In fact, the rampant circulation of hate speech and false news triggers the high level of violations.
Seeing this, the public is certainly worried about the continuity of the presidential and legislative elections in 2019. However, the results of the research should not be responded to by becoming a frightening specter, but become input for violations of religious freedom can be minimized, or even eliminated in 2019. With participation of all Indonesian citizens, of course this is not difficult to do.
By: Mirwan Achmad *)