NATIONALSun, 06/19/2011 10:20 AM
Two groups in tension over Ahmadiyah issues
The Jakarta Post
Two youth mass organizations in Makassar almost became implicated in a brawl over Ahmadiyah issues.
The police have issued warnings. The organizations, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Pancasila Youth, through their leaders signed a peace pact before the police officials.
Tribunnews.com reported that tension originated from a misunderstanding between the groups’ members.
Pancasila Youth regional secretary Andi Azikin said FPI members misinterpreted the situation when they saw Pancasila Youth members by an Ahmadiyah Mosque.
“The FPI members thought we were defending the people at the Ahmadiyah mosque. The truth is we are not involved in Ahmadiyah issues,” Azikin said Sunday.
The FPI was reportedly at the site to prevent people from performing prayers at the mosque.
According to witnesses, FPI members provoked Pancasila Youth activists. Pancasila activists were then forced back to their headquarters where they allegedly planned to respond.
In the last three years, Ahmadiyah people have been subject to much discrimination in the country after the Indonesian Clerics Association (MUI) issued a religious decree stating Ahmadiyah was not part of Islam.
The FPI has been active in suppressing the Amadiyah people.
The administration under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not provided proper protection to Ahmadiyah people, or the right to perform prayer.
Many activists perceive this as a sign of the administration’s lack of commitment toward he country’s ideology of pluralism.
The police have issued warnings. The organizations, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Pancasila Youth, through their leaders signed a peace pact before the police officials.
Tribunnews.com reported that tension originated from a misunderstanding between the groups’ members.
Pancasila Youth regional secretary Andi Azikin said FPI members misinterpreted the situation when they saw Pancasila Youth members by an Ahmadiyah Mosque.
“The FPI members thought we were defending the people at the Ahmadiyah mosque. The truth is we are not involved in Ahmadiyah issues,” Azikin said Sunday.
The FPI was reportedly at the site to prevent people from performing prayers at the mosque.
According to witnesses, FPI members provoked Pancasila Youth activists. Pancasila activists were then forced back to their headquarters where they allegedly planned to respond.
In the last three years, Ahmadiyah people have been subject to much discrimination in the country after the Indonesian Clerics Association (MUI) issued a religious decree stating Ahmadiyah was not part of Islam.
The FPI has been active in suppressing the Amadiyah people.
The administration under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not provided proper protection to Ahmadiyah people, or the right to perform prayer.
Many activists perceive this as a sign of the administration’s lack of commitment toward he country’s ideology of pluralism.
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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/06/19/two...issues.html
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/06/19/two...issues.html
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