REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Religious Affairs is in the process of preparing a bill on the protection of religious adherents in the country.

"Currently, we are making finalizations on the bill," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said after the conclusion of a national working congress of the United Development Party (PPP) here on Thursday.

He expressed hope that the bill, if approved to be turned into a law, will help maintain peace among adherents of different faiths and bring down the rejection and humiliation of other religions.

"For example, some people have begun putting up banners rejecting shiite or wahabi. Will the expression of such rejection be categorized as freedom of religion or humiliation of religion?" he questioned.

Law enforcement officers also need a clear legal basis and rule to distinguish violations of law from freedom of expression with regard to freedom of religion, he remarked.

Before being passed into law, the bill will be disseminated in the community, sent to religious figures and organizations, and to human rights activists in April 2015 to get constructive inputs, Saifuddin affirmed.

The minister also congratulated Indonesian people who celebrated the new Chinese lunar year.

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