Indonesian natives demand recognition of their traditional religions

The traditional religions of the indigenous people of Indonesia are to be protected by law. On Wednesday, 700 delegates from 300 indigenous peoples of the south-east Asian island nation held a congress in the city of Surabaya in East Java and sent this appeal to the Indonesian government. Identity cards should no longer show the religious confession of the holder until the parliament in Jakarta manages to agree on laws to stop the discrimination of animists and to prevent human rights violations.

"Religious freedom must also apply to the millions of indigenous people on every continent who have been followers of shamanism or animism for generations," said Ulrich Delius, Asia-expert of the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), in Göttingen on Friday. "Their faith is closely linked to their worldview and cultural identity. If their religion is not accepted, this also means that their identity is denied – a threat for their entire existence. This is all the more serious because they are already threatened with extinction because of the excavation of natural resources on their traditional territories."

The head of the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Education, Gendro Nur Hadi – who is responsible for matters of traditional beliefs – has already signaled concessions. The Ministry will forward suggestions for appropriate legislative initiatives to the parliament, asking for support for all religious communities. So far, only the Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism are recognized in the country, which has a Muslim majority. Nevertheless, Christians and Muslim Ahmadiyya have reported about massive violations of their religious freedom by the authorities and about increasing attacks by radical Islamic groups.

At least 45 million indigenous peoples are living in Indonesia. Many of them are Christians – and, like the people of Papua, they also have own pastors and leaders of local Christian churches.