Christians and Police on Alert over Easter

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, Sulawesi, was attacked by suicide bombers on Palm Sunday on the 28th of March 2020. Since then, the Christian community in Indonesia have been bracing itself for further attacks. Keeping in mind that Islam is the major religion in Indonesia, Christians have faced a history of attacks on their houses of worship. The previous terrorist attacks in 2000 and 2018 came in multiple instances. Therefore, the Christian community and some civil society actors are expecting more attacks to take place in the coming weeks, over the Easter holiday and through Ramadan, due to their religious significance.  In a statement a National Police chief Inspector General Istiono said that the department has ‘deployed armed personnel in vital locations that could potentially draw crowds’ in order to protect churchgoers over the Easter weekend.