JAKARTA — Civil society and rights groups have condemned two Christian-minority regencies in West Sumatra province for restricting Christmas celebrations to within church premises only. In most other places like Jakarta, Christmas celebrations are allowed and – in a first – the festivities were allowed on the capital’s main streets last week, with carollers and live music. There are about 22 Christian families in Dharmasraya regency, whose population was 201,000 in 2014, according to government data. ADVERTISEMENTThe Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement (GMNI) has appealed to President Joko Widodo to intervene in West Sumatra to ensure freedom of religion. Mr Hendri, head of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s West Sumatra office, said restrictions on Christmas celebrations were discussed and agreed on in a Dec 16 meeting attended by representatives of local community leaders and the inter-religion dialogue forum, among others.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 24, 2019 05:48 UTC