Tolikara Incident Was A Calamity: Kogoya

Jayapura, Papua (Antara Bali) - Last Friday's violent incident in Karubaga, Tolikara district, Papua, was just a calamity, and so, it is better that all parties no longer refer to it as a religious conflict, stated Presidential Special Staff Lenis Kogoya.

"It was a calamity, and therefore, I urge all parties to not mention it as a religious conflict," Kogoya noted here on Tuesday.

The presidential special staff visited Tolikara on Monday to gather firsthand information about the incident that took place last Friday and had raised mixed responses.

"During my visit to Karubaga, I met numerous stakeholders there, and I will report several things about the incident to President Joko Widodo," Kogoya remarked.

National Police's Head of the Public Relations Division Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan affirmed in Jakarta on Tuesday that the Tolikara incident should serve to increase awareness at both the individual and national level.

"Indonesia is a great nation that has matured," Charliyan stated.

According to Charliyan, the incident could improve solidarity, tolerance, and unity among all elements of the nation without creating any further divisions in the society.

Charliyan also urged the people to demonstrate to the international community that Indonesia is a nation that has been able to mature and evolve. The Indonesian society is a religious society that upholds interfaith tolerance.

"Indonesia is not a nation that promotes mutual revenge. It is a nation that cannot be provoked easily," he added. (WDY)