Tanjung Balai Rusuh, Polri Dilaporkan Tahan 7 Pelaku
Indonesia Detains 7 after Attacks on Buddhist Temples
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
KEPOLISIAN RI (Polri) menahan tujuh orang di Sumatera Utara, Sabtu atas tuduhan menyerang beberapa vihara Budha pada Jumat malam, kata pihak berwenang.
Pihak kepolisian menyatakan ketujuh orang tersebut merupakan bagian dari massa yang merusak setidaknya tiga vihara dan properti lainnya di kota Tanjung Balai, kota terbesar keempat dekat kota Medan, ibukota Sumatera Utara. Namun dinyatakan tidak ada yang terluka.
Namun para pejabat polisi membantah serangan hari Jumat itu ditujukan pada masyarakat Cina.
"Ini hanya (perselisihan antara) individu," kata Kabid Humas Polda Sumut Rina Sari Ginting, seraya menambahkan bahwa situasinya kini sudah terkendali.
Indonesia, dimana mayoritas penduduknya dikenal sebagai pemeluk Islam, pemerintah segera bertindak terhadap ancaman yang dihadapi kalangan minoritas dan pemerintah cepat bertindak menghadapi setiap insiden kekerasan.
Ratusan personel keamanan dikerahkan akhir tahun lalu ketika massa Muslim membakar sejumlah gereja di provinsi Aceh, setelah dituding pembangunan gereja tidak memiliki izin mendirikan bangunan, seperti dikutip Reuters yang dilansir MailOnline.
INDONESIAN authorities detained seven people in northern Sumatra island on Saturday on suspicion of attacking several Buddhist temples the previous night, officials said.
A spokeswoman for North Sumatra provincial police said the seven were part of a mob that damaged at least three temples and other property in the town of Tanjung Balai, near Indonesia's fourth-biggest city Medan. No one was injured.
Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation but has a sizable ethnic Chinese minority, many of whom are Buddhist. The country has a history of anti-Chinese violence, most recently in the late 1990s amid the political and economic crisis that brought down authoritarian ruler Suharto.
But police officials denied Friday's attack was aimed at the Chinese community.
"This was just a (dispute between) individuals," said North Sumatra Police Spokeswoman Rina Sari Ginting, adding the situation was now under control.
Indonesia, where the majority of the population practices a moderate form of Islam, sees sporadic attacks on religious minorities by Muslim hardliners but authorities are quick to crack down on any violent incidents.
Hundreds of security personnel were deployed late last year when a Muslim mob burned down a number of churches in conservative Aceh province, saying they didn't have the right building permits.
