Lightly on the lynch mob

	Sunday July 31st 2011

Religious persecution in Indonesia

Lightly on the lynch mob

Jul 31st 2011, 9:54 by R.C. | PENANG

SO, WHAT sort of sentence do you think a man convicted of killing someone by smashing in his skull with a stone might get in Indonesia? Life? Thirty years in prison? Twenty? Five? No. Three months, apparently.

At least, that was the sentence handed down by a court in Java on July 28th against Dani bin Misra. He was part of a frenzied mob of Sunni Muslim chauvinists, about 1,000 strong, that hacked and beat to death three members of the minority Ahmadi sect of Islam in February. Eleven others were on trial (including the cleric pictured above, white turban on the left). None of the guilty received more than six months for their crimes; none of them were even accused of murder. The ringleader was convicted of nothing more terrible than illegal possession of a machete; he got just over five months.

Considering the horror of the killings, these verdicts were risible and have been condemned as such by all and sundry—human-rights groups, the American government (which usually leans over backwards to be nice towards its new friend and the world’s largest Muslim country), the EU, as well as Indonesian civil-rights organisations.

It’s a terrible verdict for Indonesia, and for Indonesian justice. On the subject of religious tolerance—and the related matter of Islamic terrorism—it’s as if the country always takes two steps forwards and then quickly takes another step back. A few weeks ago a court finally sentenced one of the country’s most culpable terrorist leaders to a meaningful prison sentence; now another court gives these perpetrators nothing more than a slap on the wrist for what was clearly an awful murder. Furthermore, no one could have been in any doubt as to the savagery and barbarity of the attack on the Ahmadis; it was all caught on film and posted (temporarily) on YouTube.

Most worryingly, the verdicts would seem to give a virtual green light to anyone else who wants to attack the Ahmadiyah, a sect that many Muslims regard as illegitimate and heretical (they face terrible persecution in Pakistan). As Human Rights Watch has said: “The…verdict sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system. This is a sad day for justice in Indonesia.”

In theory the rights of the Ahmadis to freedom of worship and expression should be protected by the country’s constitution, like everyone else’s. But the government has partly gone along with the more extremist Muslims who wanted the sect banned completely; as a result, the sect has been stranded in a legal twilight zone. Many have argued that this invites attacks on the sect; these latest verdicts also point in that direction. The present government wants to be known as progressive and democratic at home and abroad—putting the Suharto years behind it, as it were—but that aspiration will remain well out of reach unless it does a great deal more to protect vulnerable minorities within its own borders.

(Picture credit: AFP)

URL: www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/07/religious-persecution-indonesia

Indonesian leader unworried by radical Islam rise

April 27, 2011

Indonesian leader unworried by radical Islam rise

Updated on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 12:40

Washington: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono acknowledged that Islamic radicalism may be on the rise in his country but said he was not worried it would spiral out of control.

Speaking to US public television, Yudhoyono said that the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation offered proof that Islam was compatible with democracy and that radical groups had small membership.

“I can see to a certain degree there is an escalation of radicalism in many countries. Probably we could see also that kind of thing that happens in Indonesia,” Yudhoyono told ‘The Charlie Rose Show’ in an interview broadcast late Monday.

“But I believe that we could manage, we could control the activities of radical groups here in Indonesia by empowering religious leaders, by ensuring through education and other means that force of moderation is still in place,” he said.

“So it could be yes, but I’m not really worried about the so-called rise of radicalism,” he said when asked if radical Islam was rising in Indonesia.

Indonesia’s transition to democracy has won wide praise around the world, but rights groups say that violence against minorities has been escalating during Yudhoyono’s tenure.

Islamic fanatics in February brutally murdered three members of the Ahmadiyah movement, in one of the grisliest attacks on the minority Muslim sect whose freedoms were curtailed under a 2008 degree.

Around 2,000 people held a mass prayer in a show of solidarity with the 12 accused as they went on trial on Tuesday.

Yudhoyono said he was walking a fine line as he wanted to assure Indonesians that action against terrorism was not targeting Islam.

“I am really more than willing to speak loudly,” he said. “We actually conduct anti-terrorism campaigns very seriously in Indonesia, by all means.”

“But, of course, I have to maintain the climate of brotherhood here in Indonesia, because the majority of the population are Muslim, so I try to maintain their feelings, because sometimes the policy of the government is initially misinterpreted,” he said.

Bureau Report

URL: http://www.zeenews.com/news702558.html

Amid tight security, Indonesia tries 12 men over attack on Muslim sect

Amid tight security, Indonesia tries 12 men over attack on Muslim sect

By Kathy Quiano, CNN
April 26, 2011 — Updated 0710 GMT (1510 HKT)

Protesters shout slogans during a rally against the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect in Jakarta on February 18, 2011.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — The trial of 12 men charged in a deadly attack against a minority Muslim sect began Tuesday under heavy security in West Java.

“We deployed about 1,095 personnel,” said Senior Commissioner Budiarto, the operations head of the police department in Banten province. Two water cannons and three armored vehicles were also on standby.

Budiarto, like many in Indonesia, go by one name.

Hundreds of people, mostly students from nearby Islamic boarding schools, prayed and chanted outside the courthouse in support of the defendants.

The men are on trial for a February 6 incident in which a mob of about 1,000 people, wielding knives and stones, attacked about 25 members of the Muslim minority sect, Ahmadiyah, in Cikeusik village in the province. Three people were killed and six others injured.

The crowd opposed the presence of the Ahmadiyah in the village and demanded the group stop its activities.

Amateur video of the incident obtained by Human Rights Watch showed people pummeling what looked like lifeless bodies with sticks and rocks. The video has been posted on the Internet, fueling public outrage.

In a televised statement, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the violence against Ahmadiyah and ordered a thorough investigation.

Human rights activists, however, have called on the government to revoke a ministerial decree issued in 2008 that bans the community’s religious activities.

Many Muslims consider the Ahmadiyah a deviation from the orthodox Islamic faith.

Followers of Ahmadiyah believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the religious movement in India, was Islam’s last prophet. Orthodox Muslims say Mohammed was the last prophet.

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a local think tank, noted in a recent report a marked increase in the number of attacks against Ahmadiyah and other minority religions in Indonesia in recent years.

The most populous Muslim country in the world, Indonesia has previously been touted as an example of tolerance and democracy in the Islamic world.

But a 2009 study from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington suggested it was actually among the most restrictive countries when it comes to religion.

Last week, Human Rights Watch issued a statement, urging authorities to ensure proper security at the trial.

“For the Cikeusik trial to be a step toward ending religious violence in Indonesia, the police need to ensure the security of everyone in the courtroom,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Witnesses brave enough to testify, as well as judges and prosecutors, should not have to face intimidation.”

© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/...ahmadiyah.attack/

12 Indonesians stand trial over sectarian murders

By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 4/26/2011

12 Indonesians stand trial over sectarian murders

Twelve Indonesians stood trial Tuesday over the gruesome mob slaying of three minority Islamic sect members, the worst in a recent spate of hate crimes in the mainly Muslim country.

More than 1,000 troops and police backed by water cannon and armoured vehicles threw a security cordon around the court in Serang, west Java, amid fears of further violence from the defendants’ radical supporters.

Around 2,000 people held a mass prayer and chanted Koranic verses in a show of solidarity with the accused, who could face between 12 years in jail and death if convicted.

The indictment accuses the male defendants of crimes including “inciting violence” but not murder, even though a graphic video of the slayings has been widely distributed on the Internet.

Islamic fanatics brutally murdered three members of the Ahmadiyah sect in west Java’s Banten province in February, one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the sect in Indonesia in recent years.

Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet (**) and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in places like Indonesia and Pakistan.

A video taken by a sect member showed the crowd of more than 1,000 people push police aside and storm a local Ahmadiyah leader’s house shouting “infidel” and “Allahu akbar” (God is greater).

After a brief exchange of rocks, the mob overpowered the defenders and set upon them with sticks and stones. One man was filmed being stoned and clubbed to death as he knelt on the ground half naked. The bodies were then mutilated.

Police officers fled the scene once the violence began, but returned later to mill among the mob as it destroyed the sect’s property and continued to beat the corpses of the three male victims.

A cleric, Ujang Mohammed Arif, 52, is charged with masterminding the attack by inciting others to commit violence.

Arif sent another defendant, Endang bin Sidik, a phone text message days before the attack reading “please mobilise ulemas (Muslim scholars), clerics and Koranic school students to besiege Ahmadis in Cikeusik (village),“ prosecutors said.

Endang forwarded the message to 62 people and asked them to gather at his house and wear blue ribbons on the day of the assault.

Two of the accused could face the death penalty if convicted of carrying sharp weapons under a 1951 emergency law. The law has traditionally been used against suspected separatist rebels, analysts say.

Human rights groups have said the trial is a chance for Indonesia to roll back a long-standing culture of impunity for religious violence by the dominant Muslim community against minorities such as Ahmadiyah and Christians.

“For the Cikeusik trial to be a step toward ending religious violence in Indonesia, the police need to ensure the security of everyone in the courtroom,” Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said last week.

“Witnesses brave enough to testify, as well as judges and prosecutors, should not have to face intimidation.”

A 2008 decree restricted the Ahmadiyah’s religious freedoms but stopped short of banning the sect outright. Even so, senior government officials say the Ahmadiyah should accept mainstream Sunni Islam or renounce their faith.

The sect claims 500,000 followers in Indonesia, where it has existed in relative peace since the 1920s.

Rights groups say violence against minorities has been escalating in Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country – during the tenure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The statement is erroneous. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian did not make any such claim of being last prophet. Please visit Alislam.org/messiah for further info.

URL: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/...documentid=4799448

Indonesia province announces Ahmadiyah curbs

Asia-Pac

3 March 2011 Last updated at 13:23 GMT

Indonesia province announces Ahmadiyah curbs

By Kate McGeown
BBC News, Jakarta

Anti-Ahmadiyah sentiment has been gathering momentum in recent months

Authorities in Indonesia’s West Java have issued a decree which severely limits the activities of a small Islamic sect called the Ahmadiyah.

Members will not be able to publicly identify themselves and are being urged to convert to mainstream Islam.

Indonesia is a secular country, where freedom of religious expression is enshrined in the constitution.

But recently the government has been under pressure from hardliners to ban the sect completely.

Low profile

The province of West Java is home to Indonesia’s largest community of Ahmadis, but there are estimated to be more than 200,000 throughout the country.

But now they will be much harder to find.

The local authorities want them to limit their activities, take down signs identifying their mosques and schools, and - ideally - to re-educate and re-integrate themselves within mainstream Islam.

They are even encouraging other people in the area to monitor what the Ahmadis are doing.

Lawyers for the Ahmadiyah say the decree violates a law protecting people’s rights to worship how they choose.

But hardline Islamic groups say the order is perfectly legal, claiming that the sect’s beliefs deviate from the tenets of Islam and therefore violate the country’s rules against blasphemy.

The hardliners have repeatedly petitioned the government to outlaw the Ahmadiyah completely, and they are finding an increasingly positive reception.

Even the minister for religion supports a ban.

The Ahmadis have already been keeping a low profile since three of their members were killed last month by an angry mob.

This decree is yet another sign that their way of life is no longer welcome in a country often lauded for religious tolerance.

BBC © MMXI
URL: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12635671

Analysts Say Links Between Radical Groups, Terrorists Are Growing in Indonesia

Asia

Analysts Say Links Between Radical Groups, Terrorists Are Growing in Indonesia

Brian Padden | Jakarta March 02, 2011

Photo: AP

Indonesian Muslims display a defaced poster of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the prophet of Ahmadiyah, during a protest demanding ban of the Muslim sect in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 1, 2011

In Indonesia security analysts say there is a growing connection between terrorist groups and Islamic fundamentalist organizations that do not overtly advocate violence. They say this new collaboration has resulted in more attacks against Christians and members of the Ahmadiyah religious sect.

Security analyst Sidney Jones with the International Crisis Group says after Indonesian security forces dismantled a terrorist training camp in Aceh last year, remaining cells reassessed their strategy.

For years they have tried and failed to impose an Islamic state through the violent overthrow of the government. She says they have now begun to look at how effective legal Islamic groups have been in pressuring the government to pass a strong anti-pornography law and banning the Ahmadiyah sect from propagating its faith.

“We’ve seen the relative success of the hard-line civil society groups in pressing their agendas to the point where, in the aftermath of that Aceh training camp, a critique that emerged from within the jihadi organizations was, ‘What have we achieved politically through jihadi operations?’ A big fat zero,” she said.

Since then she says there has been a growing connection between militant groups and Islamist organizations like the Islamic Defenders Front that do not overtly espouse violence.

Bonor Tigor Naipospos is with the Setara Institute, which monitors religious freedom in Indonesia. He says it is no coincidence that there has been a surge in violence against Christians and Ahmadiyah members.

Many Muslims consider the Ahmadiyah to be heretics, because although they consider themselves Muslims, they do not believe Mohammad was the last prophet.

Naipospos says radical groups have instigated the attacks to create a wider conflict.

“They hope they will get [a] reply from the Christian groups,” he said. “They hope the Christian groups will reply with violence and then they will be justified in making the place of the conflict more bigger.”

While the government has been proactive in cracking down on terrorist groups, Jones says it has been slow to respond to the violence related to religious intolerance. The government has been passive, she says, because it perceives broad popular support in Indonesia, not for the violence, but for limiting other religious groups.

“I think there is a concern that there is a wider public perception that these people may be using tactics that we don’t agree with, but their goals are more or less right,” said Jones. “That is why we have the minister of religion making repeated statements about the need to ban Ahmadiyah and the fact that it is their own fault for getting attacked because they don’t leave Islam.”

She says until the government takes strong action to prevent attacks or prosecute anyone who encourages violence, radical groups will continue to breed discontent and undermine the democratic foundations of the country.

URL: www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Analysts...Growing-117232078.html

Religious Violence In Indonesia

Editorials

Religious Violence In Indonesia

A small but vocal and sometimes violent minority rejects the equal rights of all groups. Recently there have been several worrisome instances of religious violence.

02-23-2011

Photo: AP

A police officer inspects the damage at the house of a member of Ahmadiyah sect after it was attacked by Muslim mob in Pandeglang, Banten province, Indonesia, February 7, 2011

Indonesia has a rich tradition of respecting religious pluralism and promoting tolerance. However, a small but vocal and sometimes violent minority rejects the equal rights of all groups. Recently there have been several worrisome instances of religious violence.

On February 6th, a mob attacked a house belonging to a leader of the Ahmadiyah community. Three members of the Muslim minority sect were brutally killed. A video of the incident shows the police at the scene but not intervening to stop the violence.

The Ahamadiyah sect, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands in Indonesia, was founded in the 19th century and differs from orthodox Muslims in that members do not believe Mohammed was the final prophet. In 2008, the Indonesian government issued a decree prohibiting the Ahmadiya from promoting their faith publically. Some human rights activists believe the decree fuels societal discrimination against the Ahmadiya community.

Two days after the attack on the Ahmadiyah, another mob in Temanggung, Central Java, set fire to churches after a Christian man received a five-year prison sentence for insulting Islam. Police said eight people were arrested over the incident.

On February 15th, hundreds of men attacked a Shi’a religious school in East Java, injuring at least six students. Shi’a followers represent a small minority of Indonesian Muslims. The police apprehended three suspects, but the affiliation of the attackers remains unclear.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stated that the government of Indonesia will take firm action against the perpetrators of the violence, underscoring Indonesia’s commitment to rule of law and to the protection of the rights of all communities. Indonesian police have arrested a number of suspects believed to be involved in these incidents.

The United States is deeply concerned about the recent violence in Indonesia directed at members of the minority Muslim communities and about the recent church burnings in Central Java. The United States joins the vast majority of Indonesians in deploring these acts of violence.

The right to freedom of religion is an internationally recognized fundamental freedom. The Indonesian constitution provides for freedom of religion and accords “all persons the right to worship according to their own religion and belief.” The United States joins the vast majority of Indonesians in urging differences to be met with understanding and tolerance.

URL: www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Religious...16753624.html

PPP lawmaker interrupts plenary, discussing Ahmadiyah

NATIONAL Tue, 02/22/2011 2:50 PM

PPP lawmaker interrupts plenary, discussing Ahmadiyah

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hasrul Azhar, the House Islamic United Development Party (PPP) chairman, has proposed the establishment of legislative inquiry on Ahmadiyah.

Hasrul interrupted a House of Representatives’ plenary session suddenly on Tuesday, only to ask House speakers to officially declare the minor Islamic sect Ahmadiyah illegal.

“Ahmadiyah has become the source of social conflicts and violence. It is deviant and could bring deviance to Muslims.

“Therefore, I request this forum declare that Ahmadiyah is deviant and must be disbanded,” Hasrul told the session.

Said Abdullah of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) responded Hasrul’s statement by saying it was only the government that had the authority to decide Ahamdiyah’s fate in Indonesia.

“It is very inappropriate to judge Ahmadiyah in this forum. The House of Representatives is neutral and must accommodate Indonesia’s unity in diversity [bhinneka],“ he said.

Hasrul replied, “It was just a proposal. We may also propose to establish an inquiry on Ahmadiyah!“

Tuesday’s plenary session was scheduled to endorse a proposal to establish an inquiry into corruption in the Indonesian taxation system, which has triggered heated tensions between lawmakers.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/22/ppp-lawmaker...ahmadiyah.html

MUI Denies Ahmadiyah Attacks a Result of Its Fatwa

NEWS

MUI Denies Ahmadiyah Attacks a Result of Its Fatwa

Dessy Sagita & Camelia Pasandaran | February 21, 2011

Police officers inspecting the damaged house of an Ahmadi after it was attacked by a Muslim mob in Pandeglang, Banten, earlier this month. (AP Photo)

Two weeks after a deadly attack on Ahmadiyah followers in Banten, the Indonesian Council of Ulema has called on the government to investigate cases of religious violence.

The group, known as the MUI, also defended itself against critics who say its edict denouncing Ahmadiyah has contributed to the violence against the minority sect.

“There’s not one religion in this world that teaches violence,” Amidhan, chairman of the MUI, said on Sunday.

He said many people had misunderstood the council’s 2005 fatwa labeling Ahmadiyah a deviant Muslim sect and its followers as apostates.

“Indeed, point No. 1 of that edict calls for a ban on Ahmadiyah,” he said, “but point No. 3 clearly states that any violence against Ahmadiyah followers is strictly prohibited.”

He said the misinterpretation had damaged the MUI’s reputation, making it a target for critics who claim the organization has incited hatred and encouraged attacks on the sect.

“No belief, whether it is heretical or not, deserves to be treated violently, and we are fully aware of that fact,” he said. “Therefore, I don’t understand why the MUI is linked to these violent acts.”

On Friday, hard-line Muslim groups rallied in Jakarta to demand the government disband Ahmadiyah. The chairman of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), Habib Riziq, said that “Ahmadiyah must not exist in Indonesia” and should be dismantled at all costs.

He warned of a revolution if the president failed to disband the sect, going as far as to call for the government to be toppled.

Amidhan dismissed such threats and said the Feb. 6 attack in Banten, which left three Ahmadis dead, and the government’s response, had led some groups to believe they were above the law. He urged the government to punish those responsible.

“The government and the police need to act fast to find the real culprits and provocateurs behind the incident . They must investigate both the attackers and the Ahmadiyah members who were at the scene,” he said, adding that the only way to properly resolve the issue was through the courts.

Meanwhile, in response to an outpouring of criticism over its slow response to a spate of attacks on minority groups, the government plans to revise the Law on Mass Organizations to make it easier to disband groups that advocate violence.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the revision would be part of this year’s national legislative program.

“The new law is expected to be more strict and shorten the time it takes to disband an organization,” he told the Jakarta Globe in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, on Saturday.

The law currently requires a lengthy process of collecting evidence of illegal behavior, followed by a freezing of the organization, before it can be disbanded.

Gamawan said the law made it difficult to disband organizations, even ones like the FPI that have openly called for revolution.

“We need evidence, because if we did it without evidence, the government would be accused of breaking the law,” he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Feb. 9, three days after the Banten attack, called for organizations that advocate violence to be shut down.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/mui...its-fatwa/423827

Disband Ahmadiyah or Else, Hard-Liners Warn

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Disband Ahmadiyah or Else, Hard-Liners Warn

Elisabeth Oktofani, Ronna Nirmala & Rahmat | February 19, 2011

A protester shouts slogans as he holds a placard reading “Ban Ahmadiyah or Revolution” during a rally against the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect in Jakarta on Friday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

More than 1,000 Islamic hard-liners gathered at an anti-Ahmadiyah rally in Jakarta on Friday, issuing fresh threats to topple the government if officials did not disband the minority Muslim sect.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which organized the rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, claimed Ahmadis wanted all other Muslims dead, “so they must be eliminated first.”

The protesters also called President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono a banci , or transvestite, saying he was a coward for not dissolving the sect, which has been deemed deviant by mainstream Muslims for its divergent views on Islamic prophets.

Awid Mashuri, deputy secretary general of the FPI, demanded that the government “stand for us instead of for Ahmadiyah.”

“[The president] should act faster on this,” he said. “If he keeps silent, we’ll assume that he supports the existence of Ahmadiyah in Indonesia, and that’s a humiliation to Islam, so if it happens, we demand [he] resign.”

His call prompted the crowd to shout: “We want an Islamic revolution!”

In Makassar, FPI chairman Habib Riziq in his Friday sermon said he would exhaust all means to dismantle Ahmadiyah.

“In the name of Allah, I swear that until the last drop of my blood, whatever the risks, Ahmadiyah must not exist in Indonesia,” he said.

In Jakarta, protesters marched to the office of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which they accused of “violating Islam” by calling for the protection of Ahmadis.

Misbakhul Hanan, an FPI member, said a much bigger rally would be held on March 1.

“All Muslims will join us, we’ll stay all night in front of the State Palace until [Yudhoyono] issues the order to disband Ahmadiyah,” he said. “That’s his deadline. If he misses it, the revolution that took place in Egypt will happen in Indonesia too.”

However, the government brushed off the threats, with Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi saying he had built a rapport with the FPI.

“I feel this brotherly bond with Habib and [FPI spokesman] Munarman,” he said. “I’ve been good acquaintances with Munarman since I was at the LBH [Legal Aid Foundation] with him.”

But Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party did not take the threats lightly, with lawmaker Ramadhan Pohan accusing the FPI of abusing freedom of speech.

He called on the police to respond to the threats seriously and said the FPI was damaging the authority of the state.

Additional reporting by Camelia Pasandaran & Markus Sihaloho

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/disband...warn/423579

Indonesia is no longer a poster child for pluralism

Indonesia is no longer a poster child for pluralism

Religious persecution of the Ahmadiyah tarnish Indonesia’s reputation as a bulwark of moderate, democratic Islam

Gillian Terzis guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 February 2011 08.00 GMT

Members of the Ahmadiyah pray before the biers bearing the bodies of fellow members, killed by a Muslim mob. Photograph: Nurani Nuutong/AFP/Getty Images

The first week of February marked the annual celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week, a UN resolution that aimed to promote religious and cultural understanding among people of different faiths. But proceedings were marred by the cruellest of events in Indonesia, with celebrations tarnished by a string of vicious attacks on the nation’s religious minorities.

The most serious attack was waged against the Ahmadiyah sect in Banten, which resulted in three of its members being beaten to death at the hands of the Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline Islamic group. The history between the two has been fractious at best, but in recent times the conflict has assumed an internecine edge. Footage of the bloody attack in Banten on 6 February showed police officers providing an embarrassingly feeble match for a crowd of 1,500 villagers, equipped with machetes, rocks and bamboo sticks.

Ahmadiyah Muslims believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was Islam’s last prophet, and as such find themselves at odds with the Islamic Defenders Front, which has repeatedly called upon local and provincial authorities to disband the sect, in addition to vandalising mosques and physically harassing members. The group even receives tacit encouragement from members of the Indonesian government, such as the federal religious affairs minister, who proposed that Ahmadiyah followers renounce their identification with Islam and refrain from using Islamic symbols.

Indonesia has undergone a remarkable transition after decades of repression under the Suharto regime. It can now claim a thriving democracy, a burgeoning civil society and record levels of economic growth to its name. It is touted as a bastion of a more moderate, democratic Islam; it has staked its nationhood on a mantra of “unity in diversity”. But Indonesia remains plagued by vast economic inequalities, disenfranchised youth and porous borders: elements conducive to encouraging radicalism. Lately, there have been an increasing number of attacks on religious freedom spearheaded by hardline Islamic groups, who see themselves as the sole vanguard of morality amid the nation’s anxious lurch towards modernity.

The attack in Banten is merely one in a string of attacks on Ahmadiyah Muslims, which has also included sect members being driven out of Lombok and vandalism of Ahmadiyah headquarters in Makassar and South Sulawesi. But Ahmadiyah followers are not the only target of extremists. Last week there were reports of vandalism and firebombing of Catholic schools and churches in Central Java, once again suspected to be the work of the Islamic Defenders Front. An Indonesian human rights group, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, reported that 64 attacks on religious freedom – which include incidents of physical abuse, preventing groups from performing prayers and burning places of worship – took place in 2010, a sharp increase from 18 in 2009 and 17 in 2008.

As religious hate crimes blemish the archipelago’s moderate and tolerant image, the government faces pressure from human rights groups and disgruntled citizens to enshrine religious pluralism in law. International groups, such as Amnesty International, have declared that religious freedom in Indonesia is “in tatters”, while peace rallies have been staged across the nation, urging the government to protect the right to religious freedom. And still, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been keen to trumpet Indonesia as a poster-child for unity amid diversity, emboldening a once-fractured nation by its embrace of religious, cultural and ethnic pluralism.

But in the aftermath of all the violence, his remarks ring hollow. While Yudhoyono has condemned the actions of those responsible for the killings in Banten, he also implored the Ahmadiyah community to “respect the joint [ministerial] agreement signed in 2008”, which refers to a decree banning the sect from public worship and disseminating its beliefs. This decree, coupled with the decision of the Indonesian constitutional court to uphold a controversial law banning religious blasphemy, shows that religious pluralism in Indonesia is far from fully realised. Instead, it reveals that institutional sclerosis systemically undermines the very values that are an intrinsic part of Indonesia’s national identity.

While these incidences of religious persecution may be specific to Indonesia, their implications are universal. Its struggles for democracy and pluralism are now being fought by other Muslim-majority nations such as Egypt and Tunisia. Clearly, the Indonesian narrative has much to teach the rest of the world: it challenges the misconception that moderate Islam and democracy are incompatible, and also shows that Muslim-majority nations are willing to embrace a more secular brand of nationalism. Of Indonesia’s 250 million inhabitants, 86% are Muslims, yet presidents from secular political parties have repeatedly been elected to office.

Of course, Indonesia’s transformation also highlights some inconvenient truths: that the road to progress is a rocky one, and that clashes between competing ideologies are inevitable. Nonetheless, it is how one resolves these clashes that is of greater significance. If the Indonesian government is serious about maintaining Indonesia’s reputation as a bulwark of pluralism, democracy and moderate Islam, it must realise that its actions will speak much louder than its rhetoric.

© Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
URL: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/feb/18/indonesia...

MUI Won’t Back Down on Ahmadiyah Fatwa

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MUI Won’t Back Down on Ahmadiyah Fatwa

February 18, 2011

The Indonesian Council of Ulema says it has no intention of backing down from its position outlined in a 2005 fatwa issued against the Ahmadiyah sect.

Ma’ruf Amin, head of the fatwa division at the council, or MUI, said on Thursday that the 2005 edict clearly identified the minority sect as a heretical one, adding that followers of the Ahmadiyah were apostates.

“Ahmadiyah exists outside the correct path of Islam. To all those who have followed this sect, we ask them to return to the right path, as laid out by the Koran and the Hadith [words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad],” Ma’ruf said.

“This sect has made many Muslims feel uneasy. The government must ban the sect and disband the organization,” Ma’ruf said, adding that the Ahmadiyah had previously been banned elsewhere following the 1985 Organization of the Islamic Conference in Jeddah.

Indonesian ministers and a string of lawmakers have insisted that the only way for the violence to end is for the Ahmadiyah to disband themselves.

The outgoing National Defense Agency (Lemhanas) governor, Muladi, said on Thursday that the existence of the Ahmadiyah here would cease to be a problem if followers of the sect declared their faith a new religion separate from Islam.

“They should form a new religion. One outside Islam,” Muladi said, shortly after the swearing-in ceremony of Budi Susilo Soepandji, his successor as the new governor of Lemhanas.

“Disbanding the Ahmadiyah would be a violation of human rights — unless the Ahmadiyah themselves had violated the joint decree [SKB] of three ministers [referring to the 2008 decree banning Ahmadiyah from spreading its faith], in which case the government could lawfully sanction the disbandment.

“But if not, Ahmadiyah should declare that it is not part of Islam, or be declared as being outside Islam,” Muladi added.

But Ahmadiyah leaders insisted on Wednesday night that the sect was a branch of Islam and would not declare itself a new and separate religion.

“Ahmadiyah is still part of Islam and cannot be separated from Islam because Ahmadiyah was born from Islam,” Ahmadiyah leader Ahmad Basij said in a hearing with House Commission VIII, which oversees religious affairs.

He said the sect recognized the core tenet of Islam: that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

In the aftermath of a recent deadly attack on the Ahmadiyah in Banten province, Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said last week that the group should “leave Islam and declare a new religion” if its followers could not “repent, recognize their mistake and come back to mainstream Islam.”

Mainstream Muslim groups have accused Ahmadiyah members of heresy, saying that they profess their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to be the final prophet of Islam — a tenet that runs directly against Islamic beliefs that reserve that claim for Muhammad.

The accusation is disputed by the Ahmadiyah community.

Syamsi Ali, a senior member of Ahmadiyah, said it was wrong to believe that the sect follow any holy book other than the Koran.

“Please understand that our holy book is the Koran, not the Tazkirah,” Syamsi said.

Ahmad Basij further denied claims that Ahmadis were socially insular and exclusive.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not react to threats made by the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) against his administration, in response to the president’s call that violent groups be disbanded.

“We will monitor the activities of the existing mass organization. There is no direct response or comment [from the president],” Julian Aldrin said.

He said every organization was obliged to adhere to the 1985 Law on Mass Organizations, adding that legal action would be taken against any groups violating the law. Nurfika Osman & Markus Junianto Sihaloho

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/mui...ahmadiyah-fatwa/423342

Police correct statement: No Ahmadi suspects in Cikeusik lynching

NATIONAL Fri, 02/18/2011 11:03 AM

Police correct statement: No Ahmadi suspects in Cikeusik lynching

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police has corrected an earlier statement that the eighth suspect arrested in relation to a fatal attack on members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic minority sect in Pandeglang, Banten, was an Ahmadi.

“D”, the initial of the suspect in question, was apparently part of the attackers group, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Friday.

Boy made the correction while showing journalists footage of D wearing a black jacket and carrying a machete while facing the Ahmadis at the house of Ismail Suparman, the leader of the local Ahmadiyah congregation.

“He is a resident of [Pandeglang], but doesn’t live there. D was arrested in Ulujami, South Jakarta, early on Thursday morning. So far there have been no Ahmadiyyah suspects [in this case],” Boy said in Tangerang, Banten, as quoted by kompas.com.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi and his subordinate Brig. Gen. Agung Sabar had earlier said that D was an Ahmadi.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/18/police...lynching.html

Govt searching for common threads in recent violence

NATIONAL Thu, 02/17/2011 6:17 PM

Govt searching for common threads in recent violence

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has found no links between several recent violent incidents involving religion, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto says.

“We are still investigating whether there were any connections between the cases,” Djoko said Thursday in Semarang, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

There were differences between the incidents that suggest they were unrelated, he said.

Over the last few weeks at least three separate violent incidents marred Indonesia’s image as a tolerant and pluralist country.

The incidents included a violent attack on an Ahmadiyah congregation in Pandeglang, Banten, which left three people dead; a series of mob attacks on three churches by a group that was disenchanted by a court verdict in a blasphemy hearing in Central Java; and an attack on an Islamic boarding school in East Java said to have teachings that had strayed from mainstream Islam.

Djoko said the boarding school had already faced similar attacks.

“In Pasuruan, similar incidents have already occurred several times, with one group attacking another,” he said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/17/govt...violence.html

Disband Ahmadis and we won’t attack them, FPI says

CITY Thu, 02/17/2011 11:50 AM

Muslim cleric named suspect in Cikeusik lynching

Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) pledged it would not launch an attack on Ahmadiyah followers or their property in the city.

FPI leaders visited Jakarta Police headquarters Wednesday for what they claimed was a coordination meeting with police to prevent members of the group from carrying out acts of violence against Ahmadis in the city.

The head of the Jakarta branch of the FPI, Habib Salim Alatas, said, however, that the group’s willingness to bury the hatchet in Jakarta came with the condition that the government outlaw Ahmadiyah.

“If not, we, along with [other] Muslims in this country, will wage a revolution against the government,” he warned.

Responding to the pledge from the FPI, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman called on the hardliners — and other civilian groups — to not take the law into their own hands by attacking minority groups they deemed “heretical” or “immoral”.

“That’s a job for the police,” he said Wednesday.

Sutarman stressed that only the police had the authority to conduct raids.

He said the FPI, as with other mass organizations, had to file reports to the police if they found anything suspicious.

“If the FPI have problems with anything, they can file a report with the police,” he said.

Sutarman said raids by civilian groups violated the law.

The FPI has a notorious record of conducting “raids” on night spots in the capital and other cities.

Following an attack on Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for mass organizations that incited violence to be disbanded.

However, he stopped short of naming any groups, although many believe he was referring to the FPI.

The FPI denied allegations it was behind the attack in Cikeusik and another attack on churches in Temanggung, Central Java.

The FPI lashed out against the President, threatening to bring a “Tunisian-style revolution” if he dared disband the organization.

Following the Cikeusik incident, Jakarta Police stepped up security measures in 13 Ahmadi areas in Greater Jakarta. Sutarman has also authorized officers to use of excessive force — including shooting on sight — against civilians involved in attacks on minorities.

Sutarman earlier said intelligence reports suggested that an attack on Ahmadis in Jakarta was possible.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said his administration was working with police and the Indonesian Military to anticipate possible future attacks against Ahmadis.

That’s the best we can do, Fauzi said, adding that the safety of Ahmadis in the capital rested in the hands of God.

Acts of violence against Ahmadis date back to the early 1950s, but it was not until 2005 that hostilities intensified dramatically. In 2010 alone, there were at least 10 recorded attacks against the minority sect.

In Bogor, a panel of judges at the trial of suspects charged with attacking Ahmadis in Ciampea decided to hold a closed-door session to prevent crowds from mobbing the court building.

Police were also deployed to guard witnesses in the trial, Ahmadiyah followers who survived the October 2010 attack.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/17/disband...says.html

Ahmadiyah ‘Still Part of Islam’ DPR Told

NEWS

Ahmadiyah ‘Still Part of Islam’ DPR Told

Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 17, 2011

Ahmadiyah insists it is a branch of Islam and wants nothing to do with being forced to declare itself a new religion, one of its Indonesian leaders told the House of Representatives Wednesday.

“Ahmadiyah is still part of Islam and cannot be separated from Islam because Ahmadiyah was born from Islam,” Ahmadiyah leader of Abdul Basith said in a hearing with House Commission VIII, which oversees religious affairs.

He the sect recognizes the core tenet of Islam, that there’s no God beside Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

In the aftermath of recent deadly attacks on Ahmadiyah, Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said last week that the the group should “leave Islam and declare a new religion” if its followers cannot “repent, recognize their mistake and come back to mainstream Islam.”

For Ahmadiyah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded the group in 1889, is the last prophet, who came to the earth after Muhammad, he said.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Ahmadiyah followers never add or reduce the content of the Koran as the Mulsim holy book, Ahmad told lawmakers.

“So what does the Tazkirah mean for you?” a lawmaker asked in reference to a book based on the experiences of the Ahamadiyah founder.

Many mainstream Muslims and organizations like the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) believe the Tazkirah is the holy scripture of Ahamadiyah, replacing the Koran.

Syamsi Ali, a senior member of Ahmadiyah at the hearing, said it is wrong to believe that Ahmadiyah has any other bible beside the Koran.

“Please understand that our holy bible is the Koran, not the Tazkirah,” Syamsi said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ahmadiyah...told/423190

FPI promises no attack against Ahmadiyyah in Jakarta

NATIONAL Wed, 02/16/2011 3:48 PM

FPI promises no attack against Ahmadiyyah in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta chapter of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) promises there will be no attacks against members of Islamic minority sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah in Greater Jakarta areas.

“We guarantee that there will be no attacks [against it] because we’ve handed over all problems to the police,” FPI Jakarta chapter chief Habib Salim Alatas said Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.

Salim made the statement while witnessing the extermination of illegal CDs and liquor confiscated by the police at the Jakarta Police.

He said he had coordinated with FPI members across Greater Jakarta and they had agreed not to raid or attack Ahmadi gatherings.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/16/fpi...jakarta.html

Expert warns of new Indon terror links

World

Expert warns of new Indon terror links

Karlis Salna, AAP South-East Asia Correspondent
February 15, 2011

AAP

An analyst with the International Crisis Group has warned of new alliances being forged between so-called “non-violent” Islamic groups and terrorist organisations in Indonesia.

Sidney Jones, an expert on the now dismantled Jemaah Islamiah (JI), warned of increasing alliances between what she described as “moralist thugs, the people that have been engaged in terrorist violence and the non-violent radicals who also preach intolerance towards people of other religions”.

“One of the dangers is that we’ve begun in the last two or three years to see more alliances among at least those three groups,” Ms Jones told AAP.

Advertisement: Story continues below “And what we’ve seen is that there’s certain issues, and the Ahmadiyah issue is one … that can bring those three strands together.”

Her warning follows two frenzied attacks in the past 10 days, including one in which three members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect were clubbed and stabbed to death in a village in West Java.

Just days later, violence erupted in Temanggung in Central Java where 1000 people rioted, burning churches and demanding a Christian man sentenced to five years in jail for insulting Islam be executed.

“I think anti-Ahmadiyah sentiment has been building here unchecked for the last five or six years for a variety of reasons,” Ms Jones said.

Ms Jones said there was “no question” that the Indonesian government had the will to combat terrorism.

She said the latest charges against Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir showed a political will to address terrorism.

Bashir, the JI co-founder, is being tried on terrorism-related charges for the third time following the discovery of a new terrorist cell in Aceh province last year.

He appeared in the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, where prosecutors read out a 93-page indictment detailing the seven charges against him, the most serious of which carries the death penalty.

“The interesting thing if you read through that indictment is that they cite Bashir for provocation, criminal incitement in a way that they’re not willing to speak of when dealing with very similar speeches inciting people to commit violence against Ahmadiyah and some Christian churches,” Ms Jones said.

“What they need to do is take the very clear political will to address terrorism and extend it to addressing some other forms of incitement that lead directly to violence.”

Bashir claims the charges have been fabricated and that the Aceh camp was established to defend Islam.

It is the third attempt by authorities to convict Bashir, who spent 26 weeks in jail for conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings, but was later acquitted.

Ms Jones said the latest case, however, was the strongest yet.

“I think that they shouldn’t have any problem this time around in convicting him on the basis of the evidence they’ve got,” she told AAP.

“They’ve got multiple sources and multiple types of evidence that clearly show that he was the major fundraiser for the camp in Aceh that involved the purchase of illegal guns and the protection of fugitives like Dulmatin.”

Dulmatin, killed in a police raid in March last year, was the explosives expert who helped assemble the bombs used in the 2002 attacks in Bali which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Bashir will face court again on February 24.

© 2011 AAP | Copyright © 2011 Fairfax Media
URL: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/expert...1auwb.html

Blue ribbons worn to distinguish Ahmadis, attackers: Police

NATIONAL Tue, 02/15/2011 5:34 AM

Blue ribbons worn to distinguish Ahmadis, attackers: Police

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police have confirmed that the blue ribbons worn by assailants during the Ahmadiyah attack in Cikeusik, Banten, were meant to distinguish the assailants from Ahmadis.

“[The blue ribbons] were to distinguish between the Ahmadis and the non-Ahmadi masses,” National Police deputy spokesperson Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said, as quoted by the SCTV news program liputan6.com on Tuesday.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo had said earlier on Tuesday that the individuals wearing blue ribbons were the ones provoking and conducting the attacks.

Timur said the police had detained four suspects. One of those detained was wearing a blue ribbon and was questioned.

Police have named eight suspects in the violence that drew headlines after footage of the brutal lynching of three Ahmadis in the presence of police officers was uploaded to YouTube.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/02/15/blue-ribbons...police.html

Indonesia — Land of Tolerance or Terror?

February 14, 2011

Harris Zafar
National Spokesperson & Director of Youth Outreach, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA
Posted: February 14, 2011 06:03 PM

Indonesia — Land of Tolerance or Terror?

Indonesia once hailed itself as a moderate, diverse nation that protects freedom of religion for all its citizens, with a national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” meaning unity in diversity. Three months ago, President Obama praised Indonesia as a model of religious tolerance when he said that Indonesia and the United States share principles of unity and tolerance.

The grim reality, however, is that Indonesia is losing the right to call itself a tolerant nation that promotes or protects diversity. Instead, due to failed policies, its government has allowed a real militant threat to grow within its borders.

Just last week, in a span of three days, mobs in Indonesia attacked two different religious groups, with the police unable to stop them. On February 8th, a mob of 1,000 militants attacked the police and burned two churches to protest what they considered a far too-lenient sentence given to a Christian for allegedly blaspheming Islam. The mob is calling for his death.

Two days earlier, on Sunday, a mob of more than 1,000 extremists wielded machetes and attacked 18 peaceful members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community staying in a house. Three have been confirmed dead and five critically injured. A gruesome video of the attack has surfaced, showing two bloodied young men of this community being hacked to death as the crowd cheers and pelts the lifeless bodies with stones. Meanwhile, the police idly stand by. This footage can be found online, if you have the stomach to watch the brutality.

Hard-line extremists are literally getting away with murder, as their vile attacks result in no punishment. At the root of the problem is Indonesia ‘s misused 1965 Blasphemy Law, which makes it unlawful, “to, intentionally, in public, communicate, counsel, or solicit public support for an interpretation of a religion or a form of religious activity that is similar to the interpretations or activities of an Indonesian religion but deviates from the tenets of that religion.”

Since hardliners disagree with the reformative interpretation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, they are able to use the Blasphemy Law to justify attacks against them. The Blasphemy Law makes it illegal to advocate “deviations from teachings of religion considered fundamental by scholars of the relevant religion.” So forget about separation of religion and state. This law gives ultimate control to religious “scholars” in deciding who should be punished for holding variant interpretations of their religion.

Sunday’s attack against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is not a coincidence; rather, it is a direct result of a focused, organized effort to silence this peaceful community. Thirty years ago, the top Muslim clerical body in Indonesia declared that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is not a legitimate Muslim community, resulting in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s activities being outlawed in several areas of Indonesia. Astonishingly, the Indonesian government funds this clerical body and appoints its members.

In 2008, Indonesia ‘s Minister of Religious Affairs, Attorney General and Minister of the Interior issued a joint decree ordering Ahmadi Muslims to discontinue the proclamation of their faith. Since this 2008 decree, extremists have used this decree to justify acts of terrorism against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

The Setara Institute – an NGO that monitors religious freedom – reports that violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has significantly increased from just three incidents in 2006 to 50 in 2010 – amounting to more than 100 recorded attacks against the community since 2008.

Historically, any form of a blasphemy law – meant to punish those accused of insulting a faith – gets misused to persecute and strike terror into the hearts of minority religious groups. The sheer barbarity of Sunday’s attack illustrates how far Indonesia has drifted from being a tolerant nation. It is time for Indonesia to start becoming more intolerant of militants seeking to spread terror.

Indonesia pledged to endorse Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees, “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and “freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” It is time for Indonesia to live up to this pledge.

President Obama has indicated a possibility of strengthening ties with Indonesia . I call on our President to leverage this bond to urge the Indonesian Government to bring those behind Sunday’s attack to justice and ensure no future attacks are levied on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Christian community. Militant groups like Islam Defenders Front (FPI) have already threatened to initiate “sweeping raids” of Ahmadi Muslim properties in other areas of Indonesia in the near future, which indicates a continued threat to the community. It is time for the Indonesian Government to ensure that Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities remain safe.

It is time for the Indonesian Government to revoke the June 9, 2008 Joint Decree against Ahmadi Muslims. It is time for the Indonesian Government to repeal the 1965 Blasphemy Law. It is time to stand for your citizens; not for terrorists. It is time to stop these callous attacks against Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, or anyone else. It is time to live up to your motto of unity in diversity.

Indonesia, it is time. Are you truly that model of religious tolerance our President said you are? Do you respect and protect diversity? The whole world is watching, and it’s your move.

Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
URL: www.huffingtonpost.com/harris-zafar/indonesia..._b_821180.html