Merapi Refugees & Ganjuran Church, Bantul
Nov 15th, 2010, in Featured, News, by PatungOn 8th November about 15 white clad men descended on the Ganjuran Sacred Heart Church in Sumbermulyo village, Bambanglipuro, Bantul, Yogyakarta, and demanded that dozens of Merapi volcano refugees that were being given shelter in the church, – those of them who were Muslim, – leave forthwith.
White clad men
The men, in Arab dress, feared that Muslims staying in the church were at danger of being apostised, that the churchmen might try to convert them to Christianity.
Ganjuran – Javanese Catholic church
Church officials refused to allow the men to enter the grounds, and it seems the 98 Muslims resident in the church did not want to leave, and a tense standoff ensued until several days later the Governor of the province, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X along with his royal lady Permaisrui GKR Hemas, came to mediate.
The Sultan, mediating
According to one report the Sultan recommended to the Muslim refugees that they understand the “sensitive” nature of the situation, and that they had better move out of the church; harianbangsa according to another report after imploring the 98 people to understand the “sensitive” nature of the situation, the Sultan handed the matter over to the Bantul chief of police AKPB Joas Feriko Panjaitan, the latter then asking the refugees to move out of the church. terangdunia
The Sultan is quoted in the second report as saying:
What’s important at the moment is not whether to stay in the church or leave the church, but what is safe or unsafe.
After leaving the Ganjuran Church the 98 people were accommodated at a Bantul government office.
Meanwhile on 12th November in response to the incident Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) leader Imam Azis in Jakarta said the matter was very regrettable:
I know the Ganjuran Church, they have a good reputation in helping people during disasters, like in the Yogyakarta earthquake of 2006. They didn’t try to convert anyone then, they just try to help people on humanitarian grounds.
In general he said people should not suspect religious organisations that gave assistance during disasters of having any ill-intentions.
13 Comments on “Merapi Refugees & Ganjuran Church, Bantul”
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camion says:
Another insane deluded paranoid example for why all scurrilous religious groups should be bannned forever as often they are the roots & seeds that seduces more buffoons of society to be coerced into like minded behaviour. Look at their faces to see the hooligans that they are.To think that these are the people that piously put themselves up on pedestals to preach their interpretation of a religious doctrine :-)))
(Proud Atheist.) -
Rojo Jowo says:
One wonders quite where these froth-at-the-mouth white-robes congregate to dream up the paranoid delusions which they manage to construe as reality. They would surely have garnered greater street-creds if they had offered to house the poor refugees themselves. You have to surmise that their worries were not so much that the refugees would lose their souls but that the lack of sufficient charity amongst the umat of Jawa Tengah would reflect poorly upon the puppet masters that energized the idiot boys.
Neither the Sultan nor the police officer in charge came out with any real credit either. What a gutless response on both their parts! Do the citizens of Central Java have no choice in where they choose to shelter from a natural disaster? Do the tenets of Islam deny free choice among the believers?
Once again it is apparent that religious extremism – and not just that in Islam – is more concerned with maintaining political dominance than it is with bettering the lives of those who would live in harmony and peace in the embrace of their own faith near the faith of others. Ya Allah! Where is the sense in this senselessness? Where is the light in this darkness?
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ET says:
The Sultan is quoted in the second report as saying:
What’s important at the moment is not whether to stay in the church or leave the church, but what is safe or unsafe.
The sultan is right. Islamist paranoid idiocy is far more dangerous than any erupting volcano.
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Odinius says:
You’d think the homelessness of the refugees, and their need for shelter and sustenance, would be the only priorities right now.
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Multibrand says:
This is a very crazy incident.
The Governor/Sultan should have let the refugee stayed in the church. -
Joan says:
Sorry for my bad english. That happened evryday during the Eruption. In Klaten last week a group of catholics from Klaten brought goods for victims of Merapi but have been stopped but a group of muslims from F*I (not FPI) who accused them of coming to christianized the villagers (Crazy!). The fanatic muslims were the first in that village so you had to give them the goods. No contact with villagers allowed. The pastor had to come from Klaten to free the youngs from his church.
Once again things like that happen all the time but christians don’t even tell the police because the police / the authorities (the sultan in tha Jogja case) always protect the fanatics and the people are also scared by the violence of those “anarchic” groups. Here in Java many christians family would like to leave the country since their situation as a minority is becoming more and more dangerous. -
realest says:
This country is uncivilized and all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good man like the Sultan do absolutely nothing even when he is in a position of both power & influence to make changes.
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Guna2 says:
I wonder how these white-robed criminals would respond if you told them: “No, these goodies are not for Muslims. We only help Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.” I guess they’ll shout blue murder (and practice cold murder), but it is also possible that they think it’s a good idea. They are after Verelendung. Islam = Communism, and worse than that.
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Astrajingga says:
Gosh… When will we have a government and police force who could deal with those thugs. I don’t see this as an inter-religion relationship problem or religion interpretation problem. The problem is that some people can easily threat to make things safe or unsafe and the police nor the people can not f*** them off.
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Hans says:
the same sort of underlying thought patterns, as when Saudi Arabia’s religious MUSLIM police stopped schoolgirls from leaving the burning building. 14 young girls died, and more than 50 were injured. only for the reason that they was in wrong clothes. Ther anger is great for those who do not know better, and their time is short.
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You mean this gem?: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1874471.stm
For more gems like that, check out: http://muttawa.blogspot.com
I shit on King Abdullalalalalalah
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That’s why I dislike muslim in Indonesia. They are bunch of idiots. I hate their primitive mentality.
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they are realy idiot and have to kiss my ass!