Eighty-five percent of houses of worship in Indonesia are unlicensed

Building permits unevenly enforced in Indonesia
Khabar South Asia:

Several houses of worship in Indonesia have been closed or torn down because they lacked the required approval. But some say even mainstream mosques (85%) are usually built without a permit.
In recent years, lack of a proper building permit (IMB) has frequently been cited as the reason for the closure – and in one recent case, the demolition – of houses of worship in Indonesia.
Yet the vast majority of religious buildings lack such permits, according to Imdadun Rahmat, vice chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).
“Eighty-five percent of houses of worship in Indonesia are unlicensed. The majority are mosques,” Imdadun told Tempo on April 9th. “If you rely on the IMB permit, you need to prepare a lot of bulldozers.”
Last month, the Taman Sari Batak Protestant Christian Church (HKBP) in Setu, Bekasi was razed by bulldozers following an order of the district chief, amid demonstrations by the Taman Sari Islamic People’s Forum (FUIT). The church was in the lengthy process of obtaining a permit.
“I do agree with Imdadun. Many mosques in Indonesia do not have a permit. I think his statement has a moral value to remind everyone that the recent closure of churches in West Java as well as the Ahmadiyah Mosque in Bekasi are too harsh,” Titien Hartati, a student at Tangerang University, told Khabar Southeast Asia.
The Bekasi government sealed the Al-Misbah Mosque on April 4th, because Islamic officials consider the Ahmadiyah a deviant sect. The congregation has worshipped there since 1998.
Lengthy process
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