Evicted families celebrate low-key Idul Fitri

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.