Religion on IDs needed to prevent 'unlawful' marriage: Official

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Friday January 03 2014,


Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar defended on Friday the controversial decision to keep religious affiliation listed on every citizen’s identification card, saying it was important for preventing unlawful interfaith marriages.

“Elimination of religion on ID cards would bring more detriments than benefits,” Nasaruddin said, as quoted on the ministry’s website. “A Muslim marriage, for example, would be considered illegal under fiqih [Islamic law] if the groom did not know the religion of his bride. The child of such a marriage would be called a zina [illegitimate] child,” he added.

The House of Representatives recently approved an amendment to the 2006 Civil Administration Law that retains provisions on the inclusion of the “religion” column on ID cards and the prohibition of adherents of indigenous faiths to state their beliefs on the cards.

Activists have said that the amendment would perpetuate rampant, years-long discrimination against minorities.

But Nasaruddin insisted the regulation would instead positively contribute to the improvement of public services. “It will not discriminate those with religions outside Islam, such as Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhism and Confucianism,” he said.

Previously, Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is a Christian of Chinese descent, expressed his objection to the inclusion of religion on identity cards.

He said he personally did not like that religion was listed on his ID card because faith was a personal matter.

Ahok said that many countries in the world, even Malaysia, which is known as an Islamic country, did not include religion on their citizens’ identity documents.

Currently, the government recognizes only six organized religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. The last was added in 1999.

Data from the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP) in 2005 showed that more than 400,000 people follow non-denominational faiths, or Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa (Belief in One God), which is not officially recognized by the state.

According to the ICRP, there are around 245 non-denominational faith organizations across the country.

The 2010 census found that 270,000 Indonesians listed “other” as their religion.



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Slowly the barbwire is closing the circle.... like fish caught in the nets.... Big Brother is watching you.