Thursday morning wasn't a pleasant one for Deputy Secretary General of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Tengku Zulkarnain.
Tengku had just landed at the Susilo Airport, Sintang, West Kalimantan for his Tabligh Akbar event when a group of native Dayak people blocked his way out of the plane. The crowd were dressed in traditional attire and allegedly brought traditional machetes as properties.
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Police confirmed the incident.
Its true there was a rejection from the locals, said West Kalimantan Police spokesperson Susilo on Thursday.
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The crowd refused to allow Tengku to set foot on Sintang soil due to a recent comment he had made regarding the local tribe. Tengku previously said that Dayak people are infidels who don't deserve heaven and are worse than animals.
We never hated MUI, but Tengku Zulkarnain has insulted Dayak people, said Andreas, the protest leader.
Failing to find a way out, Tengku and his entourage decided to return to Pontianak with the same aircraft after other passengers had exited the plane. The situation was largely under control, with no reports of violence.
Suhadi, a member of the local police, said the incident was amere misunderstanding and that there will be efforts taken to settle the problems.
A regional forum consisting local regents, police chief, district military commander, chairman of Religious Harmony Forum, and MUI, are in discussion to avoid provocation caused by dividing issues (like this), he said.