The Torching of Karubaga

The prayer had just started when Ustad Ali Muktar heard shouting. That morning, on Friday two weeks ago, scores of youths from the Indonesian Evangelical Church (GIDI) protested Idul Fitri communal prayers being held at the open field of the Military District Command (Koramil) in the Karubaga District of Tolikara, Papua. Youths near the field were shouting: "Stop it! Break it up!"

They were protesting because the Evangelical Church Executive Board in Tolikara had drafted a letter notifying the local Muslim community to hold the Idul Fitri prayers inside their musholla, (small mosque) not in an open field (as is traditionally done). They reasoned that holding the prayer in an open area and using a loudspeaker could disturb a religious seminar and revival program being held in the area.