Indonesia’s small, plastic identity cards may seem innocuous enough but campaigners who are trying to have the compulsory religion category dropped say they are behind many sectarian killings. “People have been killed in sectarian conflicts because religion is mentioned on the cards,” said activist Maya Safira, who heads a non-profit group that seeks to embrace Indonesians of different backgrounds. A law passed in 2006 mandated the inclusion of religion on the identity cards, despite objections that forcing people to display their faith was a violation of basic human rights.
Posted on Sunday, April 8th, 2007 at 9:25 pm and under category News.
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