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.
