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Bekasi. The first Sunday following the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan saw an attack on leaders of a Protestant church in Bekasi that has long fought for its right to worship freely.

Asia Sihombing, an elder of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Pondok Timur Indah, was stabbed by unknown assailants on Sunday morning, according to police and church representatives. The Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak was beaten with a stick when she came to his aid.

Both were taken to Mitra Keluarga Hospital in East Bekasi, where Sihombing underwent surgery and is now being monitored in the intensive care unit.

The incident occurred at around 8:40 a.m. as the congregation was walking toward a vacant lot in Ciketing, Bekasi, where worshipers have held services following the June closure by local authorities of a house they used for worship, according to a church member, Risomas Sinaga.

Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered the National Police to respond quickly to the incident.

“The perpetrators must be punished firmly, as mandated by the law,” Djoko said, adding that the government would not tolerate any acts of violence in the name of religion.

However, local police said the attack was not religiously motivated. “We still see this as a criminal offense,” Bekasi Police Chief Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto said.

He said two men who had been acting suspiciously were detained moments after the attack,   but were released. “We checked them and found a sharp weapon, but there was no blood on it.”

But Saor Siagian, the church’s legal representative, said the police were aware there was a possibility of an attack. He said that on Wednesday, Luspida had received a notice signed by the Bekasi Police chief recommending that Sunday services be canceled because of possible violence. “So the police already knew about this but they did not do anything,” Saor said.

Luspida also said she recognized the attackers as men who frequently demonstrated during their services. “After Sihombing was stabbed, I heard people at the nearby mosque shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ ” she said.

Members of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Islamic People’s Forum (FUI) have regularly protested the church, saying it was breaking the law by holding services without a permit.

On Aug. 8, just three days before the start of Ramadan, a mob chased about 20 church members and beat them with sticks. Ahead of the fasting month, Yudhoyono called for harmony among the country’s religious groups, and Luspida later said her congregation had been able to hold weekly services unhindered since the start of the holy month.