Towards a Deliberative Conflict Resolution? A Reflection on State Inclusive Response to Sunni-Shi’a Tension in Indonesia’s Democracy

Most studies on the Sunni-Shi'a conflict concentrates on the failed peaceful resolution due to the state’s discrimination against the minority religious groups in Indonesia. However, these studies overlook other spectrums of the progressive role of the state agencies in religious conflict resolution. This paper examines the state engagement in the peaceful resolution of religious conflict through an inclusive policy-making. A case study of the Sunni-Shi’a conflict 2016 in Bondowoso (East Java) showed that the local government is committed and has an inclusive policy to protect or strengthen civil rights, especially for groups that are crucial to the quality of democracy. Based on Carson and Hartz-Karp’s theoretical framework, this paper shows that the local government policy has represented a model of limited deliberative conflict resolution. Although this policy was a product of public openness and willingness to hold a discussion, negotiation, and to compromise, the decision made was still exclusionary to the involvement of the Shi’a minority group.