Roads in here and there

This note was inspired by roads in two different countries:

A year a go when I went to a “mosque” just next to my campus premises in Australia, I was surprised because there was no even single person there, but a folk of men who looked confused as I did. We were about to have Friday prayer, a once-in-a-week prayer which may be equal to a Service or Mass in Christinity and Catholic. We were not coming in the wrong time, the prayer time was right: 1.30 PM. We had no idea what was going on until a lad came to us and let us know that since that week, Friday Prayer was temporarily prohibited. The city council received complains from neighbors and people around mosque’s vicinity, as prayer congregation’s members were parking their cars irresponsibly on the road surroundings the mosque. The permit to have a communal meeting which involve a large number of praticipants was temporarily revoked. (Yes, I did not say it the license for having a prayer, as well as I put double quotes for the word “mosque”. It was indeed not registered as a worshipping premise, it was only registered as a community service building.)

I emotionally started thinking how surpressing is the city council not to let minority people to conduct their most basic rights. Until last week, in Indonesia, my own country:

I had an Ied prayer, the prayer which is performed for the second biggest Islamic festival across the year. I had it in my new house vicinity’s mosque. It was the first time for me having Ied prayer in that place, as I just moved to here couple months ago. I was surprised seeing people closed the main road in both lanes. The road was stripped using kind of white paint. The stripes were meant to be a sign for people to have a linear row in order to have a perfect prayer ritual. The road was only occupied by few people. In fact, there was spacious place in the rear of the building and was not fully occupied.

And here I started thinking as if I were the minority, when I or my family members are very sick and need to be transferred to the ER. The only way to get to the nearest hospital was closed, and a minute is a borderline between life and death. The stripes were so irresponsible as well. They obscure the road surface markings, and last there for months.

Here life opens my eyes that human are possessing basic instinct to be superior and tyrannical, anywhere on this earth.