Evicted families celebrate low-key Idul Fitri

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of evicted families in the capital celebrated Idul Fitri on Tuesday in a very modest way as most of them only hung around their makeshift tents or stayed on board their boats.

Around 200 fishing families, who had been evicted from their stilt houses on the banks of the Muara Angke River, North Jakarta, said their Idul Fitri prayers at a nearby mosque and visited each other to ask for forgiveness.

Islam teaches Muslims to forgive each other, especially during Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, in order to ease anger, thereby preventing Muslims from sinning.

The evictees later enjoyed ketupat sayur (steamed rice wrapped in coconut leaves and served with vegetables cooked in coconut milk, plus other side dishes), donated by concerned individuals and institutions.

Heavy rain on the eve of Idul Fitri worsened the fishermen's situation as the area had been inundated to a depth of around 10 centimeters with rainwater and seawater from a high tide.

Syarifudin, one of the evicted fishermen, said that this year's Idul Fitri was the hardest ever for their families.

"Previously, we could take our families to visit our relatives or go to recreation sites," he said. "On top of that, we could perform all the religious obligations, particularly fasting, with an inner sense of peace."

"But the city administration has taken that peace away from us," he added.

Syarifudin, a father of four, responded to a call from the cleric in the sermon to forgive those who had evicted them.

"I know that we must forgive each other," he said. "But it's still hard for me to forgive those who evicted us."

A modest Idul Fitri celebration was also participated in by around 70 evicted families from Cengkareng Timur, Tanjung Duren Selatan and Jembatan Besi, all in West Jakarta. They had been taking shelter at the compound of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and held Idul Fitri prayers in the front yard of the commission's offices.

"After prayers we asked each other for forgiveness and many of us cried and hugged each other because this year is definitely the saddest Idul Fitri we have ever experienced," said Asep, an evicted victim from Cengkareng Timur, who later spent the whole day at the Komnas HAM office.

Asep said that some children still had the chance to enjoy new clothes for the celebration, thanks to concerned people who had donated clothes.

"Alhamdullilah (praise the Lord), there were still some concerned individuals who also gave us money so we could cook ketupat daging for all of us here," he said.

Some Christian families, who had also been evicted and took refuge at the commission office, also listened to the Idul Fitri sermon and celebrated the day with other Muslim families.

However, just like evicted fishermen in Muara Angke, the evictees from West Jakarta municipality said that they still could not forgive the officers who had evicted them from their homes.