Indonesian Team to Move Out Ahmadiyah of Lombok

NEWS

Indonesian Team to Move Out Ahmadiyah of Lombok

Fitri | December 01, 2010

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Authorities in West Lombok district have formed a special team to supervise and relocate members of the Ahmadiyah sect, an official said on Wednesday.

M.S. Udin, an assistant to the district chief, said officials meeting on Tuesday evening agreed to set up a nine-man team to deal with the minority Islamic group, whose members were forced out of Gegerung village in Lingsar subdistrict by mainstream Muslims opposed to their beliefs.

Udin said the team would oversee the sale of Ahmadiyah property and make sure the sect members received compensation.

The team will also begin the process of moving Ahmadiyah families. It is currently looking at a proposal to move them to the coastal Sekotong subdistrict.

He said the Ahmadis would also be required to report to officials whenever they returned to the village to work their fields.

“It would be impossible to restrict them from making a living by working their own land. Many of them still own land in [Gegerung’s] Ketapang hamlet,” he said.

“But to be safe, they should report to the [security] coordination post that they are returning to Ketapang — not to live [there], but to work their fields.”

“These Ahmadis are still convinced they will be able to return to Ketapang and that there will be no problem,” Udin added. “But if residents heard they were back, there would be new problems, destruction of property and more.”

Tuesday’s meeting of officials was held in Mataram, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara, and was attended by Ahmadiyah leaders, security officials, prosecutors and district heads.

In addition to Udin, the nine-man team will include representatives of the National Land Agency (BPN), the district secretary, head of the district’s assets unit, the Lingsar subdistrict chief, the Gegerung village head and security officials.

Zaini Arony, the head of West Lombok district, will meet with the Ahmadis — who have been living in temporary shelters since being chased from their village — to discuss the relocation plan.

Zauji, the head of the Ahmadiyah’s provincial chapter who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said the group’s members wanted “legal clarity” on the issue of the destruction of their homes and assurances that they would be protected from further violence and intimidation.

“Whatever the decision, it will have nothing to do with the organization. [Officials] will have to deal with the Ahmadiyah members directly,” he said. “We will leave it to them to decide.”

Zulhair, an Ahmadi who has lived in a hajj transit building in Mataram since 2006, said he wanted to go home. “If I could, I want to return to my house in Ketapang. That is my personal wish.”

He said it was difficult for Ahmadis to trust an administration that had repeatedly failed to protect them from attacks.

Many mainstream Muslims view Ahmadiyah as a deviant sect because they believe its members recognize the sect’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as the last prophet.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesian-team-to...lombok/409582

Editorial: In Jakarta, Signs of Creeping Intolerance

EDITORIAL

Editorial: In Jakarta, Signs of Creeping Intolerance

November 30, 2010

Indonesia has always prided itself in its social and political tolerance toward all citizens, no matter what their faith or background. Now, radical organizations are pushing these boundaries and sowing distrust and hatred. (JG Photo)

The results of a survey by a nongovernmental organization on rising religious intolerance in Greater Jakarta make for chilling reading. More than half of those surveyed said they would not accept people of different faiths within their neighborhoods.

Conducted by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace , the survey also found residents of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi to be easily swayed economically, socially and politically.

The survey, conducted from Oct. 20 to Nov. 10 , had 1,200 randomly sampled respondents.

It is truly alarming that nearly 50 percent said tolerance of different faiths and ethnic groups was limited to social relations.

This meant they would not accept a person of a different faith in their family and would not consent to the building of a house of worship in their community.

It should also be of concern that 41.9 percent said economic injustice was the main cause of terrorism.

This showed that for much of the population, there was no correlation between radical organizations and terrorism.

Greater Jakarta represents a microcosm of the entire country.

If Jakarta, the most cosmopolitan city in the country, is growing increasingly intolerant, the rest of the country may well follow suit.

With half the country’s population now urbanized, more and more people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds will find themselves living side by side.

If the trend toward growing intolerance continues, the prospects of ethnic friction becomes much greater.

Indonesia has always prided itself in its social and political tolerance toward all citizens, no matter what their faith or background. Now, radical organizations are pushing these boundaries and sowing distrust and hatred.

People are routinely attacked because they have different beliefs.

Take the case of the Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect that has been the target of violence and persecution in the past few years, especially in West Java and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.

The group, which had lived for decades in peace with its mainstream Muslim neighbors, suddenly became the target of violence after the reform era.

This trend must be arrested immediately if we are to keep the social fabric from being torn to shreds.

The government must enforce the law fairly and impartially against those who incite and exert violence on others.

We must bring back the philosophy of living peacefully and harmoniously with peoples of all faiths.

Allowing certain groups to hijack religion for narrow political goals will lead to the disintegration of the nation.

Everyone should be reminded that our country’s founder had set down a powerful motto for this nation: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which means Unity in Diversity.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/editorials/editorial-i...ping-intolerance/409231

Most Lombok Ahmadiyah Converted: Indonesian Official

NEWS

Most Lombok Ahmadiyah Converted: Indonesian Official

Fitri | November 30, 2010

Mataram. Hundreds of members of the Ahmadiyah sect in the Central Lombok district of Lombok Island have returned to the fold of mainstream Islam, while only five families, or 21 people, remained followers of the faith, a local official said Monday.

Gabriel Mbulu, a member of the Central Lombok office of the Ministry for Religious Affairs, said that of the 500 Ahmadiyah followers once reported living in the district, only 21 remained part of the sect.

“From the 500, there are only 21 who do not want to return to Islam, besides those who left for Sulawesi. Hundreds have returned to true Islam,” Gabriel said.

The five families were still at a temporary shelter in the former general hospital in Praya after being driven from their homes, he added.

He said the Ministry also continued to call on people not to resort to violence when dealing with members of Ahmadiyah, a sect that is ostracized by mainstream Muslims because of their belief that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the Messiah.

He was referring to the violence that has repeatedly hit the Ahmadiyah community in Gerungan village in West Lombok since 2006, leading to hundreds of sect members seeking shelter in Mataram.

Nursalim, head of the Central Lombok Ahmadiyah group, speaking from the group’s shelter in Praya, said there were actually 31 people still at the shelter.

But he denied the claim that hundreds of Ahmadiyah members had reverted to mainstream Islam, saying that they simply became “inactive.”

“I have never heard of that,” he said of the claim of a mass conversion.

Nursalim said hundreds of Ahmadiyah members were forced to flee their homes in Central Lombok because of violence against them in 2006, about the same time their fellow Ahmadi were attacked in West Lombok.

He also said that, although the government initially provided relief aid for the Ahmadiyah refugees, the aid was halted without notice in 2007.

“Now we no longer even receive medicine,” he said.

But for Sionah, a mother of three who has been in the former hospital since 2006, nothing would make her convert from her faith.

“I remain confident as an Ahmadi, wherever I am,” Sonah said.

She said she had already been evicted from her home twice, first from her home in Sambielen in North Lombok amid violence against the sect in 2002.

She said she then moved to Praya in Central Lombok, but was forced to flee again during the attacks in 2006.

Ahmadiyah communities have been the target of attacks by hard-line Muslims in several regions, mostly in Lombok and West Java, in recent years.

Members of the sect also claim to face official discrimination, including difficulty obtaining jobs and processing official paperwork.

Ahmadiyah representatives have dismissed claims by their mainstream Muslim opponents that the group does not believe Muhammad was the last prophet and does not consider the Koran its holy book.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/most-lom...erted-indonesian-official/409233

Lombok Ahmadiyah Families Lodge Complaint Over Lost Homes

INDONESIA

Lombok Ahmadiyah Families Lodge Complaint Over Lost Homes

Fitri | November 28, 2010

Indonesia. Members of the beleaguered Ahmadiyah Islamic sect have filed a police report over the destruction of their homes on Friday by residents of Gegerung village in West Lombok district.

The village’s Ahmadiyah community was first driven out by angry residents in 2006, and has since been forced to live at a temporary shelter in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara’s capital.

On Nov. 19, the authorities evicted 12 families who had since returned, following threats against them by the residents, and a week later, the villagers made good on their word and destroyed 22 homes that had been abandoned by the fleeing families.

Police failed to prevent the destruction or arrest anyone, despite having deployed 100 personnel to the area.

On Saturday, six Ahmadis reported the case to the West Lombok Police, citing Rp 735 million ($80,000) in damages.

They said that while they had long accepted their persecution as a test, they would not stand for any criminal acts.

“Our people can no longer go back to their homes that were attacked by the mob, for almost none of them are now fit for habitation,” said Nasiruddin Ahmadi, one of the complainants.

He added he hoped the police would follow up the case and bring to justice those responsible for the destruction.

West Lombok Police’s operations head, Comr. Deky Subagio, pledged his office would investigate the case just like any other. He added that police had long attempted to secure the situation in Gegerung. “But it was difficult to prevent the villagers destroying the homes because most of them were kids,” he said.

Deky also denied reports that police had not tried to prevent the destruction. “We did our best to contain the situation, and we’re continuing to take all measures to secure the area,” he said.

He called on the Ahmadis staying at the transit shelter in Mataram to hold off any planned return to Gegerung until the animosity had died down.

There are now 183 Ahmadis, or 72 families, staying at the shelter, up from the initial 133 people who were driven out of Gegerung during the 2006 incident.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/lombok-a...t-homes/409009

As the Flames of Intolerance Flare, Indonesians Are Reminded of Their Nation’s Origins in Diversity

INDONESIA

As the Flames of Intolerance Flare, Indonesians Are Reminded of Their Nation’s Origins in Diversity

Nivell Rayda & Fitri | November 28, 2010

Indonesia. A hundred police officers armed with assault rifles and pistols were not enough to dissuade Tuti (not her real name) from walking barefoot for a kilometer, her 3-year-old son on her back, to the village of Gegerung in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.

Once she arrived, the 25-year-old mother joined hundreds of people from her village in ransacking and demolishing dozens of houses belonging to members of the Ahmadiyah minority sect.

“Infidels,” she screamed as she pelted one of the homes with rocks. “Get out of our village.”

The mob destroyed 22 homes, with one burned to the ground after villagers emptied a canister of kerosene in it and lit it on fire.

As Tuti watched the house burn, she and the other villagers thanked God for the suffering of those they deemed heretics.

Need for a National Strategy

The seemingly never-ending string of attacks on minority religious groups — at least a hundred against Ahmadiyah alone over the past decade, according to one activist — prompted the International Crisis Group in a recent report to call on Indonesia to adopt a comprehensive national strategy to promote religious tolerance and curb rising sectarian violence.

“There needs to be a long-term vision and strategy. Local officials have been addressing the incidents on a case-by-case basis,” said Jim Della-Giacomathe, the ICG Southeast Asia project director.

“And most of the time, they surrender to those with the loudest voice. If this keeps happening, mob rule prevails.”

Della-Giacoma’s statement highlights an important observation regarding the government’s response so far to the apparent increase in religious intolerance in the country: that the core of the problem isn’t being addressed.

In Bekasi, which the ICG report says is a clear example of the tensions brought about by clashing fundamentalisms, 10 people have been arrested for an attack that saw one churchgoer hospitalized with a stab wound and a female reverend badly injured.

Among those arrested was the local leader of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a group that has led calls for Christians to leave the area.

West Lombok Police operations head, Comr. Deky Subagio, has promised that his office will investigate the attack on the Ahmadiyah homes on Friday just like any other case.

Despite local police promises such as these, attacks continue.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice president of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said if the core of the problem was not addressed soon, sectarian conflicts would be unavoidable.

“There are elements within the minorities that are discontented with the government’s inaction and are becoming fed up with continuously playing the victim,” he said. “These elements may even have become radicalized themselves.”

Largely Local?

Bonar notes that the areas prone to religious conflict often have weak law enforcement or government leaders who are easily pressured by majority religious groups.

For instance, in Kuningan, West Java, where mainstream Muslims in July attempted to seal off an Ahmadiyah mosque, the local government has been reluctant to acknowledge marriages involving members of the minority sect.

In West Nusa Tenggara, the local government has also refused to issue mandatory identification cards to followers of the sect, and last month raided homes belonging to Ahmadiyah members, urging them to move out of Gegerung village.

The government announced plans to relocate the remaining members of the community to a remote island in the Sumba Strait, some 40 kilometers off the main island of Lombok, saying it was the will of other religious communities and residen ts.

In Bekasi and Depok, where a string of attacks and forced closures of Protestant churches has taken place, local administrations have defended their position of siding with the demands of hard-line groups against minorities by saying they needed to keep the peace.

“The political support of religious elites is essential even for political parties that are not based in Islam,” Bonar said.

“Religious elites need to expand their political influence; in return politicians enjoy great support from faithful followers of certain religious leaders.”

Decentralized, Disconnected

Analysts trace part of the problem to decentralization.

“Decentralization has brought more autonomy and self-government, but unfortunately the interpretation and implementation of religious freedom and tolerance, in practice, is also left with the local leaders, who sometimes have a narrow view on the subject,” said Siti Zuhro, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Zuhro said that during the iron-fisted rule of former President Suharto there was no tolerance shown for religious frictions, and any statements that had the potential to stir up social, religious and racial tensions were greatly limited.

“Today, the situation is different. Hate speech is protected by the citizens’ constitutional rights of freedom of expression,” she said. “But this is a slippery slope.”

Bonar said that although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had made a number of speeches expressing support for religious freedom and the need to protect minority groups, his words had never been translated into definitive action by local governments.

“There is a discrepancy between the central government’s commitment and the policies and practices at the local level,” he said.

“Decentralization has left the central government to rely heavily on how local officials can translate its directives.

“But while the central government claims that the job of protecting minorities rests with local governments, the local governments tell minority groups that they have to consult with the central government.”

Confusing Commands

Even at the national level, Yudhoyono’s statements on religious freedom sometimes stand in stark contrast to the words and actions of his ministers.

Ulil Abshar Abdalla, a member of the president’s Democratic Party, pointed out that Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali “has made comments that oppose religious freedom and have a dangerous potential to fuel further violence.”

The minister has repeatedly called for Ahmadiyah to disband, and has showed support for the 1965 law on blasphemy that many observers say has legitimized acts of violence against minority sects and groups.

He also supports the 2006 joint ministerial decree on houses of worship, which requires the consent of the surrounding community for building churches, temples and mosques. Critics say the regulation is discriminatory.

Rohadi Abdul Fatah, the director of Islam and Shariah law at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, denied that anyone had turned a blind eye to the problem of intolerance.

“Our officials always work according to the law and official procedure,” he said. “We never harm other groups, for example by prohibiting them from using public facilities or burning their places of worship. That is totally against human rights and the law.”

Regarding Ahmadiyah, he said the ministry did not tolerate the sect, but that did not mean the ministry was failing to provide members protection.

“We keep trying to persuade Ahmadiyah through education and dialogue to return to the right path of Islam,” he said. “We don’t tolerate anyone who harms them even though their belief is not acceptable in Islam.”

Democratic Pitfall

So what should a government that listens to its people do when a number of surveys indicate a worrying increase in religious intolerance among Muslims in the country?

A survey released in September by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society found that among 1,200 adult Muslim men and women surveyed nationwide, 57.8 percent said they were against the construction of churches and other non-Muslim places of worship — the highest rate the study center has recorded since 2001.

More than a quarter, or 27.6 percent, said they minded if non-Muslims taught their children, up from 21.4 percent in 2008.

“The government should not bow down to political pressure from a religious elite that voices intolerance,” Ulil said. “The government should protect minorities and not only cater to the demands of the majority.

“We should re-educate these opportunistic bureaucrats and political parties about ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ [‘Unity in Diversity’], the principle taught by our founding fathers.”

Firdaus Mubarik, an Ahmadiyah activist, said he hoped the government would listen to minority voices as well.

“The government should remain neutral on religious issues and bridge differences between religious groups,” he said.

“If the government continues turning a blind eye to the problem, hard-line Muslim groups will soon target other minorities.”

An Ahmadiyah member holding a burned Koran in Ciampea, West Java, after a mob set fire to a mosque and houses belonging to members of the minority sect. Pluralism advocates are warning of the dangers posed by failing to sufficiently address rising intolerance. Reuters Photo/Dadang Tri

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/as-the-flames-of-...origins-in-diversity/409017

Villagers in Lombok Ransack, Destroy Ahmadiyah Homes

INDONESIA

Villagers in Lombok Ransack, Destroy Ahmadiyah Homes

Fitri R | November 26, 2010

A gang of youths in Gegerung village, West Lombok district, on Friday destroying an empty home belonging to the Ahmadiyah community, which was forced to seek refuge in Mataram after a 2006 pogrom. (JG Photo/Fitri)

Mataram. Villagers in West Lombok district on Friday destroyed 22 homes belonging to Ahmadiyah families in the latest wave of violence there aimed at the minority Muslim sect.

Exactly a week earlier, local officials drove 12 Ahmadiyah families out of Gegerung village following growing opposition from the rest of the village.

No injuries were reported in the latest incident as the homes had all been abandoned following evictions in 2006 that saw 133 Ahmadiyah followers forced to take refuge at a temporary shelter in Mataram, the West Nusa Tenggara capital, where they remain to this day.

Friday’s incident saw a mob of several hundred villagers, including women and children, tear down 21 homes and burn one other to the ground.

The chain of events leading up to the rioting began earlier, during a meeting led by district head Zaini Arony after Friday prayers.

Zaini called on the villagers not to resort to violence following last week’s animosity, assuring them his administration would resolve the long-standing issue.

Following the meeting, however, angry villagers began arming themselves with machetes, crowbars and swords in preparation to raid the empty homes.

“If you don’t come out of your homes, we’ll tear and burn them down. So come out or we’ll come and get you!” the mob yelled while pelting the empty houses with rocks. “Destroy the Ahmadis who bring shame to Islam!”

About 100 armed police officers managed to hold back the crowd for some time. However, they later scattered as the violence intensified.

The mob ransacked the houses and then went on to completely demolish them. The authorities claimed they had successfully prevented further damage by seizing a jerrycan of gasoline from the rioters.

Syahudin, Gegerung’s village chief, said he had lost all control of the situation.

“It was impossible to get under control,” he said. “They even drove me away from the scene when I tried to stop them.”

The crowd finally dispersed after the army sent in soldiers to secure the area.

West Lombok Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Supriyanto said his officers were now investigating the motivation for the attack, but had not yet made any arrests.

“Our next step will be to secure the Ahmadiyah neighborhood until the situation calms down,” he added. The police had made a similar pledge following the evictions on Nov. 19.

Agus rebuffed accusations his men had allowed the villagers to run amok, saying they were taking “the persuasive approach, given that most of the mob were youths and children.”

In his town hall address before the violence, Zaini offered the villagers four options to ending the animosity with the Ahmadis.

The first, he said, was to strictly enforce a 2005 bylaw that banned members of the sect from West Lombok.

The second option was a controversial plan to relocate all Ahmadiyah families in the district to remote Teluk Sepi, in Lombok’s south, which has been widely criticized by rights activists.

“Given that they’re not accepted here, I feel it’s my humanitarian duty to find someplace else for them,” Zaini said. “But they haven’t agreed yet and instead keep asking about the facilities to be built for them there.”

The third option was to relocate them to Kalimantan or Sulawesi, while the fourth was to compensate them for the property lost in Gegerung and let them start new lives elsewhere.

Zaini said his administration had already set aside Rp 710 million for the compensation deal, but the families wanted Rp 1.5 billion.

Sarim Ahmad, one of those forced to flee Gegerung on Nov. 19, said he hoped the authorities would come up with a better solution that would not foster more hatred against the community.

“We’ll go anywhere, as long as there’s legal certainty for us and our families,” he said at the shelter in Mataram. “To date, we’re not accepted as citizens of this country because the authorities continue to deny us ID cards.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/villagers-in-...diyah-homes/408771

Looking the Other Way When It Comes to Indonesia’s Ahmadis

OPINION

Looking the Other Way When It Comes to Indonesia’s Ahmadis

Firdaus Mubarik | November 21, 2010

On Oct. 1 in Bogor, an Ahmadiyah mosque and 28 houses were destroyed, looted and burned. Fifty Korans were burned during the assault on Cisalada village, home to 600 people. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono scarcely reacted. It was a far cry from several months earlier, when an American pastor made plans to burn the Koran in Florida and Yudhoyono immediately wrote to US President Barack Obama and held a press conference to protest the action.

The problem is that the government never seriously prosecutes perpetrators of violence against the Ahmadiyah.

In one case in 2002, more than 300 Ahmadis fled their homes in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, when their homes were burned down.

The community was taken to Mataram, where they were attacked again in 2006.

On Friday, 50 followers of the sect were chased out of their homes. Now they live in a barracks, denied the right to return home.

Half a million of other Ahmadis in Indonesia live in fear. Attacks by Islamic extremists continue anywhere there are Ahmadis in Indonesia.

In West Java, violence has erupted in several districts: Bogor, Cianjur, Sukabumi, Garut, Tasikmalaya, Ciamis and Kuningan.

The same has occurred in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Maluku and Kalimantan.

In fact, there is no safe place for Ahmadis to worship in Indonesia. Freedom of religion in this country is increasingly threatened.

To legitimize their actions, attackers cite an Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) fatwa — promulgated in 1980 and strengthened in 2005 — which declared Ahmadiyah heretical and dangerous.

In Banjar, West Java, Sobri Lubis, one of the leaders of the radical Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) openly invites his people to kill followers of Ahmadiyah.

Police do nothing in response, just as they have done next to nothing about extremist action against Ahmadis elsewhere in the country.

In the 2006 Lombok case, police freed the people suspected of torching homes of the displaced Ahmadis.

In Bogor in September 2005, Encep Hernawan made the bold statement that he and his organization Gerakan Islam Reformis (Garis) were responsible for an attack on four mosques and 43 homes belonging to the Ahmadiyah community in Cianjur.

The act went unpunished.

In some cases, local governments facilitate the attackers and position the Ahmadis — who, under the Constitution, should be protected — as the cause of the problem.

They also sometimes legitimize acts of violence.

In Bogor, Garut, Tasikmalaya and Kuningan, local governments issued decrees banning Ahmadiyah, often including the MUI fatwas of 1980 and 2005 in their laws.

Religious Affairs Minister Surya Dharma Ali this year campaigned against Ahmadiyah, repeatedly saying that it was not part of Islam and he would ban the sect.

This policy follows similar action in Pakistan in 1974, when that country’s Constitution was amended to explicitly declare Ahmadis as non-Muslim minorities.

Rather than solve the problem, these actions have triggered a rise in attacks, arrests and killings of Ahmadiyah followers.

In recent times 86 Ahmadis died and more than 120 were injured in attack during Friday prayers at an Ahmadiyah mosque in Lahore.

Indonesia in 2005 ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Under the 1945 Constitution, the government should protect the freedom of religious choice and association.

But in fact a 1965 ordinance allows the government to prohibit a particular religion or faith.

This law also underlies a 2008 joint decree that prohibits the spread of Ahmadiyah teachings — said to be contrary to the majority’s understanding of Islam.

A report by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace shows the violence continues to increase. In 2009, there were 33 cases of violence against Ahmadis — up from 15 in 2007.

A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team in 2006 thoroughly investigated the violence against Ahmadis on Lombok and in Kuningan.

It spoke of human rights violations, but unfortunately the team’s recommendations were not followed up by commission members.

There has been some progress, though.

This month police stopped 300 FPI members from attacking an Ahmadiyah mosque in Ciamis, West Java.

This strong action from the police clearly shows that the government has the ability and power to stop violence.

The government must revoke all ordinances and regulations that restrict the freedom of religion and worship and take decisive steps to ensure the safety of the Ahmadis.

People involved in violent acts against the community should be arrested and prosecuted.

Consistent, firm government action is the only way to stop the violence faced by minorities like the Ahmadis.

Firdaus Mubarik is a member of the Ahmadiyah community in Kebayoran, South Jakarta.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/looking-the-othe...as-ahmadis/407694