VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin laid emphasis on the need to firstly verify reports of violation of religious freedom.

"Must be verified first. Is it true? Because the topic of construction of worship places has its own regulation, which has been approved by religious assemblies, stipulated in the Joint Regulation of the Home Affairs Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry. There is regulation for it," he stated in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.

At the end of January 2023, Setara Institute had released a report on the situation of religious freedom in 2022.

The institute noted that East Java Province emerged as the region with the most number of violations, reaching 34 incidents.

Those incidents comprised eight of the religious discourse been dismissed, six instances wherein worship places were denied establishment, four instances of discriminative policies, and three instances of blasphemy.

"If one already meets the requirements and then were denied, then I think that is wrong. If they have met the requirements, then they must be given permission and must be allowed. Whatever the religion, it is the same," he remarked.

However, worship places could not be established if they did not meet the requirements, he affirmed.

"Thus, why was the report made? Were (the requirements) met or not? Therefore, it needs to be investigated, I think it needs explanation," he stated.

According to the vice president, there was no prohibition on the construction of worship places.

Setara Institute researchers attributed two factors behind East Java being placed first for violation of religious freedom.

The first factor was the prevalence of stigma among members of the public about some ancient traditions or beliefs that led to some people dismissing and even outrightly rejecting such practices, such as by destroying offerings.

The second factor was the strong presence of Nahdlatul Ulama in East Java.

Following East Java, other provinces with several incidents of violations of religious freedom were West Java, with 25 incidents; Jakarta, 24; Banten, 11; Central Java, 11; North Sumatra, 10; Aceh and West Kalimantan, with seven incidents each; and West Nusa Tenggara, with six incidents. (Antaranews)