The public has called on police to investigate a series of violent attacks on religious leaders to curb civic restlessness.
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Kompas/Aloysius B Kurniawan
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) advisory council head Din Syamsuddin.
LAMONGAN, KOMPAS – The public has called on police to investigate a series of violent attacks on religious leaders to curb civic restlessness.
“The police must be serious in investigating the perpetrators and motives behind the acts of violence against religious leaders and houses of worship,” Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) advisory council head Din Syamsuddin said on Monday (18/2/2018).
Din said he had also asked the public to be more watchful of those wishing to spread conflict and chaos among religious communities.
Din made the statement in the wake of an attack on cleric KH Abdul Hakam Mubarok, the patron of Karangasem Islamic Boarding School in Paciran district, Lamongan regency, East Java, on Sunday. The perpetrator, alleged to have been suffering from a mental illness, was taken to East Java Police’s Bhayangkara Hospital for examination.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen Setyo Wasisto said the police would deploy intelligence officers and investigators to look into the various attacks on religious leaders, including one on an Islamic boarding school patron in Paciran. He said that he hoped everyone would give the police time to reveal the legal facts in the series of attacks.
Setyo said the National Police were committed to finding out the motives and backgrounds of the number of attacks on religious leaders and houses of worship as quickly as possible.
“We are making efforts to dig into the motives of the attacks. Surely we will investigate the attacks based on legal facts,” Setyo said.
Series of attacks
A series of attacks on religious leaders have taken place over the last month. The first incident took place on January 27, when Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School leader KH Umar Basri was attacked by a person reported to be mentally-handicapped in Cicalengka, Bandung regency, West Java. Umar sustained injuries from the attack. Then, Persatuan Islam (Persis) mass organization figure HR Prawoto was fatally assaulted in Bandung.
In South Tangerang, Banten, a Buddhist monk was subjected to intimidation. In Sleman, Yogyakarta, a man attacked a Catholic priest and churchgoers and damaged St Lidwina Church. In Tuban, East Java, last week, a mosque was attacked by a person allegedly suffering from a mental illness.
On Sunday, KH Abdul Hakam Mubarok, the patron of Karangasem Islamic Boarding School in Paciran district, Lamongan, was attacked by a person who was also allegedly suffering from a mental illness.
These series of incidents occurred ahead of the simultaneous elections on 171 regions this June and the start of campaign period. The initial stages of the 2019 presidential and legislative election will begin in mid-2018.
Lamongan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Feby Hutagalung said that, before the attack occurred on Sunday, Mubarok had asked his attacker to leave the premises as the attacker had brought food and was littering along the boarding school’s main hall. It was time for noon prayer and the attacker reportedly refused to leave.
The attacker then chased Mubarok and fell. Locals who witnessed the incident then arrested the attacker and took him to the Paciran police precinct. The attacker was then taken to the Lamongan Police and then to Bhayangkara Hospital to undergo a mental health examination.
