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Indonesia: Suicide Bomb Blast at Protestant Church

· Written by Juke Carolina

Categories: East Asia, Indonesia, Religion, War & Conflict

Another suicide bomb blast occurred on Sunday (September 25) in Solo, Central Java in Indonesia.  The bombing happened in Kepunton Protestant Church, right after the morning Sunday service when the congregation was departing.

As of this writing, 20 people were reported injured and two were killed in the bombing.  The bomber was among the casualties.

President Susilo Bambang said [1] [id] that they found the similarity between the Solo bombing and the one that blew up in Cirebon six months ago, and according to the preliminary investigation [2] of the police, the blast was intended to harm as many churchgoers as possible.

Twitter users in Solo and elsewhere are extending their condolences and expressing their disappointment over this tragic event. Here are some reactions from twitter users using the hashtags #prayforsolo [3] and #pray4solo [4]:

@radixhidayat [5]: Ini bukan soal agamamu dan agamaku. Ini soal Indonesiamu dan Indonesiaku. #prayForSolo

@radixhidayat: This is not about your religion and mine. This is about your Indonesia and mine.

@papanjari [6]: ini akibat dr masyarakat yg kurang mdapat pendidikan yg layak..mudah dipengaruhi org tdk bertanggung jawab.. #prayforsolo #prayforindonesia

@papanjari: This happened because the people didn't get a decent education, they become easily influenced by irresponsible persons.

@BiancaAllysa [7]: Masi ngebom?astagfirullah islam tidak pernah mengajarkan umatnya untuk mencelakai sesama mahluk hidup

@BiancaAllysa: Bombing still? Astaghfirullah (author's note: means God have mercy), Islam never taught its followers to harm others.

@RyuDeka [8]: Tuhan, sesungguhnya kami lelah dengan segala tindak kebencian yang mengatasnamakan-Mu..#prayforSolo

@RyuDeka: God, frankly we're tired with all of those acts of hatred done in Your name.

@tarsih_ekp [9]: Utk temen di media harap jeli, jangan bawa masalah #bomsolo ke ranah minoritas /pun mayoritas #pray4solo

@tarsih_ekp: To our media friends, please be meticulous and don't immediately link the bombing with majority/minority group.

And here are reactions from the hashtag #bomsolo [10]:

@ferouz_afr [11]: Selama gerakan ormas2 agama yg radikal yg jelas2 ada tdk d tindak dan d biarkan teror2 bom akn selalu ada krn d situ lah bibit2 nya #bomsolo

@ferouz_afr: As long as the movements of radical religious mass organizations go unpunished and being left off, the bombing terrors will always exist, because they are the seeds.

@gstff [12]:#BomSolo Kepada para agen intelijen yg jadi makelar pengaburan persoalan: kalian semua penghianat bangsa.

@gstff: To all intelligence agents who act as the broker of the blurring of issues: you are all traitors to this country.

@inyourdeathbed [13]: stupid suicide bomber, you have accomplished NOTHING but remind us that our current government administration is a TOTAL FAILURE. #BomSolo

@blangk_on [14]: Ada pihak2 tertentu di republik ini yg tetap melihara monster pembunuh dg ideologi agama. Kapan pun bs mrk gunakan #bomSolo

@blangk_on: There are certain parties in this Republic who nurture monsterous murderers under religious ideology, to be used at their disposal.

@AlexKomang2000 [15]: Di mana kita mencari perlindungan keselamatan di negara ini?#bomsolo

@AlexKomang2000: Where can we find a safety protection in this country?

Solo (also known as Surakarta) is known to be the stronghold of Abu Bakar Bashir, the former emir of Southeast Asian Al Qaeda Network called Jemaah Islamiyah and a spiritual guru at Ngruki Al Mukmin [16].

Some of Ngruki's former students have been linked to various bombings in Indonesia. However the school has never been banned by the Indonesian government. Meanwhile, mainstream media also noted [17] the rise of religious freedom violations in 2010.