No surrender: Members of the congregation of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church attend a Sunday mass at their unfinished church in Bogor, West Java. The local administration sealed the building citing the problems with the building permit but the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the church. Church members defied government restrictions by entering the site to perform mass. JP/Theresia Sufa

Observing a growing intolerance in the country, a human rights watchdog announced on Monday that it had recorded increasing hostility against religious minorities, from 299 cases last year to 371 incidents this year.

To make matters worse, the Setara Institute said those attacks against minorities had claimed 10 lives nationwide, including two Shiites in Sampang, Madura, last August, and three others in Bireuen, Aceh.

“At a glance, intolerance this year does not seem to be as dramatic as last year, when we witnessed a vicious attack against the Ahmadiyah community. But more people have lost their lives due to the growing intolerance this year, including Aiyub Syahkubat and his follower Muntasir in Aceh,” Setara Institute researcher Ismail Hasani said on Monday.