Ms. Maria Indira Aryani3
3Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur, Surabaya, Indonesia
Religious inequalities are a way in which individuals and societies face systemic marginalization because of their religious beliefs and affiliation. Several communities and societies in the Southeast Asian region have been suffering from this form of discrimination lately. The case of Rohingya community in Myanmar, Christian and non-Sunni Moslem community in Indonesia, and church bombings in the Philippines are few examples. With the growing religious inequalities in the region, it is feared that the religious freedom in Southeast Asia is declining when each of its members should uphold the freedom of religious practiced constitutionalized by law. Cases of religious inequalities often time intersect with other conflict identifiers, such as ethnicity and poverty. In order to eliminate religious inequalities amongst Southeast Asian communities and societies, inclusive development is needed as a poverty reduction mechanism. Poverty reduction could not be focused solely on economic growth but also on religious interests and empowerment with the rise of religious adherence.
Biography
Maria Indira Aryani is a lecturer of International Relations Department Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Jawa Timur, Indonesia since 2013. Her research interests are in the fields of international political economy, diplomacy and the Holy See. She was an alumnus of Study in the United States Institute on United States Foreign Policy 2014 and the Taiwan Fellowship 2017. She was recipient of various research grants from the The Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia.