Political motive in church burnings?

Suspected Islamists were behind the burning of three homes used as churches on Sumatra Island’s Riau province in August, though a political motive also may have played a role, Christian leaders said.

Muslim mobs burned the meeting places of a Batak Karo Protestant Church (BKPC) congregation and a Pentecostal Church in Indonesia (PCI) group Aug. 1, and that of a Methodist Church of Indonesia on Aug. 2, all in Kuantan Singingi district.

Provincial BKPC leader Sahat Tarigan reportedly said about 100 people on motorcycles arrived at the house church at 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, throwing stones, threatening church members with knives and ultimately pouring gasoline and setting it on fire.

A number of church members were inside painting at the time of the attack, but there were no casualties, Tarigan said.

The same mob also set the PCI home on fire some three miles away, he said. Tarigan said area resident have never objected to any worship there, although a local Muslim reportedly said the site lacks a permit and that the singing bothers Muslims fasting by day for Ramadan. But the executive secretary of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, Jeirry Sumampow, said he suspected political motives.

An election in April in which all churches in the Kuantan Tengah subdistrict backed the winning regent may have played a role, he said. At press time, Riau Provincial Police had reportedly questioned 21 witnesses and arrested two suspects. (CDN)