Archipelago | Fri, 05/14/2010 9:48 PM
Displaced Ahmadiyah followers take part in national census
Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
Around 120 Ahmadiyah followers taking shelter at Wisma Transito building took part in the national census and were listed as residents of Mataram city in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), although many had no valid identification.
Head of the Mataram Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Peter Willem, said Friday the followers of the controversial sect had taken part in the census, which ends May 31.
“We registered them as residents of Mataram since they have lived in the city for the last six months,” Peter told The Jakarta Post.
He said the refugees were registered using the regular form just like other residents.
The form, he said, did not mention their status as refugees.
“It’s because the census does not query data on the status of refugees”.
Peter said the BPS did not single out the census pattern and treatment between Ahmadiyah refugees and other residents.
Some 136 families or 157 people of the Ahmadiyah sect, considered heretical by the Indonesian Ulema Council, have been living in the shelter for four years since being evicted from their homes in West Lombok by angry mobs.
Some had left or moved to other provinces but some 33 families of 126 people remain.
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/04/21/discourse-blas...99.html
Posts
