Indonesia: Islamic Party PPP Woos Hard-Liners

--- Jakarta Globe, Indonesia

National

March 29, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati

Islamic Party PPP Woos Hard-Liners

The United Development Party, or PPP, has resorted to calling on the government to dissolve the controversial Islamic sect Ahmadiyah in an effort to appeal to conservative Muslim voters ahead of the April 9 legislative elections.

PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali, who is a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s cabinet, asserted during a campaign rally on Sunday that the Ahmadiyah sect had violated Islamic teachings, state-run Antara news agency reported.

“Ahmadiyah must be dissolved because it has disrespected the feelings and honor of Muslims,” he told more than 10,000 party supporters in Jakarta.

Suryadharma said the growing number of cases of insults against religion, be it Islam or the other state-recognized religions, had occurred due to what he called “over-the-line democracy,” where freedoms had been taken too far after the end of the late President Suharto’s authoritarian New Order regime.

“It is fine to be free, but every freedom has its limit,” he said.

An Islamic party set up during the New Order era, PPP has seen its popularity suffer over the last decade. In elections in 1997, shortly before the end of Suharto’s rule, it gained 20 percent of the vote, while in 1999 it secured 11 percent, and in 2004, only 8 percent.

The Ahmadiyah community has become a target in recent years for hard-line Muslims, who consider it “heretical.” Attacks against Ahmadiyah escalated in mid-2008, culminating in the government issuing a joint ministerial decree banning its activities, in particular “spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam.”

There are approximately 200,000 followers of Ahmadiyah who believe the sect’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last prophet of Islam — contradicting one of the fundamental doctrines of orthodox Islam.

Copyright 2009 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/national/article/14564.html

Indonesia: Govt urged to address refugees

---The Jakarta Post, Indonesia

The Archipelago Sat, 03/28/2009 1:28 PM

Govt urged to address refugees

Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Mataram

Ahmadiyah members living at the Wisma Transito shelter in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, remain indifferent to the provincial administration’s plan to ban the movement, brushing it off as just a ploy to complicate the refugee issue.

Provincial Ahmadiyah head M. Jauzi Djafar told The Jakarta Post on Friday that as Indonesian citizens, Ahmadiyah members would abide by the country’s laws.

But he added the ban would not resolve the Ahmadiyah refugee issue, now dragging on into its fourth year.

“The governor and provincial administration say they’re studying the ban. That’s OK by us, but they should also think about the core of the refugee issue,” he said.

“We perceive the administration only wishes to avoid or take no responsibility for the issue.”

Jauzi added the provincial administration should have responded realistically and made strenuous efforts to resolve the issue, rather than “rashly” issue the ban, with many problems still left unresolved.

The refugees, he added, had been holed up at the shelter for three years, yet legal action had never been taken against those who had destroyed their homes in Ketapang and Praya.

“The government has the authority to ban Ahmadiyah, but what about the rights of the refugees? Has it paid attention to that?” Jauzi said.

He added the commotion raised by the local and national media about the ban on the Ahmadiyah had instead raised confusion and anxiety among Ahmadis staying at Wisma Transito in Mataram and the former Praya hospital in Central Lombok.

The Ahmadis have so far heeded the joint ministerial ban against spreading their activities, and have also refrained from fully interacting with local communities, mostly due to their status as refugees.

“Yes, you may say we cannot yet socialize with local residents because of our status as refugees. Furthermore, most of us are farmers, while the local residents are mostly civil servants and officials. How would we socialize?” Jauzi said.

He also said a provincial ban on Ahmadiyah would make the refugee issue even more complicated.

“The government has issued a joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah? Why doesn’t the provincial administration just try to implement it well? The decree has failed to address the issue, let alone a ban from the provincial administration,” he said.

When asked for confirmation on the ban, provincial spokesman Andy Hadiyanto said the proposed ban was still being studied.

“The proposal is still being deliberated. It is included in the joint decree and is not a new matter. The administration is just emphasizing it,” he said.

He added the basis of the ban was very strong because the provincial administration was implementing the 1945 State Constitution and Criminal Code in order to prevent religious blasphemy.

While deliberating the ban, the provincial religious affairs office and other agencies will monitor the activities of the Ahmadiyah for a month, the results of which will be discussed to support the proposed ban.

As many as 126 Ahmadis from 33 families still live at the Wisma Transito shelter, since being driven from their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village in Lingsar district, West Lombok, in February 2006.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/200....ress-refugees.html

Muslim Groups Demand Police Crackdown on Ahmadiyah Sect

---Jakarta Globe

National - March 21, 2009

Farouk Arnaz

Muslim Groups Demand Police Crackdown on Ahmadiyah Sect

A group of Muslim organizations led by M. Amin Djamaludin, director of the Institute for Research and Studies on Islam, or LPPI, submitted a petition to the National Police on Thursday demanding that police take firm action against Muslim sect Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, or JAI.

“Ahmadiyah members have broken a joint decree issued by the ministers of religious affairs and home affairs and the attorney general that restricts the sect’s activities,” Amin told reporters after submitting the petition.

After strong pressure from Muslim groups, Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji signed a joint decree on June 10 last year banning the sect from propagating its beliefs. The decision sparked debate and criticism from human rights activists who saw the decree as a violation of human rights.

Amin said Ahmadiyah held a general assembly meeting at Manis Lor in Kuningan, West Java Province, on March 6 and 7.

“We also have a document showing that Ahmadiyah still continues to raise funds from its members to build schools and mosques in 2009 and 2010,” said Amin, adding that he was fully supported by the Muslim Lawyers Team, or TPM, and the Islamic Activists Forum, or FUI.

Ahmadiyah, an Islamic congregation founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in India about 100 years ago, was legalized by the Indonesian government in 1953.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, the country’s highest authority on Islam, declared Ahmadiyah a “deviant” religious sect in an edict issued last year.

The MUI claims Ahmadiyah beliefs contravene Islamic teachings, because followers of the group believe that the Prophet Muhammad was not the last prophet. One group of Ahmadis believe that Mirza was the messiah promised in the Koran, while another considers him to be the last Muslim prophet.

Cholil Ridwan, a chairman of the MUI, issued an edict banning people from voting for the incumbent president in the upcoming election because of the government’s failure to outlaw the sect.

The House of Representatives’ religious affairs commission has also said that it would demand that the religious affairs minister take firm action against Ahmadiyah because it was continuing to promote its brand of religion.

Jamaah Ahmadiyah secretary Mubarik said on Thursday that everyone possessed the right to file complaints with the police.

“Following legal procedures is better than using violence like what happened at our campus in Parung,” he said, referring to a September 2005 incident in which hundreds of people vandalized a mosque and cars belonging to the sect’s members. Mubarik also denied suggestions that his group had broken the joint decree.

Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf, head of the National Police intelligence unit, declined to comment on the petition on Thursday.

Copyright 2009 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/national/article/13779.html

West Nusa Tenggara set to ban Ahmadiyah

---The Jakarta Post

The Archipelago - Thu, 03/19/2009 3:01 PM

West Nusa Tenggara set to ban Ahmadiyah

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: The West Nusa Tenggara administration plans to officially ban activities by the Ahmadiyah sect in the province in the near future.

Governor M. Zainul Majdi said the proposed policy was agreed upon after several options carried out by his administration had yet to succeed in resolving the Ahmadiyah refugee issue.

“We are studying the ban on the Ahmadiyah. Our basis is very strong because we are implementing the mandate stated in the 1945 Constitution and the Criminal Code to prevent religious sacrilege. The ban will also strengthen the joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah,” he said Wednesday in Mataram.

He added the ban would be stipulated in a gubernatorial decree, such as that carried out by the South Sumatra provincial administration to also ban the Ahmadiyah.

The move is widely deemed the right effort toward resolving the Ahmadiyah refugee issue. Hundreds of Ahmadiyah members have lived for the past three years at the Wisma Transito shelter in Mataram, after being forced from their homes in Ketapang hamlet in West Lombok.

Zainul said based on observations by the provincial religious affairs agency and other bodies, the Ahmadiyah refugees tended to be tight-lipped and controlled by the Ahmadiyah organization. -JP

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/new...-tenggara-set-ban-ahmadiyah.html

Brutal murder of two Ahmadi doctors in Multan

---Ahmadiyya Foreign Missions Office, Vikalat Tabshir, Rabwah, Pakistan

Urgent
Human Rights
March 18, 2009

Brutal murder of two Ahmadi doctors in Multan

Multan: We regret to report gruesome murder of an Ahmadi couple, both doctors, at their residence in Wapda Colony, Multan, in the afternoon of March 14, 2009. Both were tortured and suffocated by the assailants. The deceased Dr Shiraz Ahmad Bajwa was 37, while his wife Dr Noreen Bajwa was 29.

On the day of the incident the couple came home for lunch at about 2:45 p.m. They resided in Wapda Colony which otherwise is a well-protected residential area, guarded by security staff at the gate. About an hour later, their maid reportedly found them murdered, and she reported the fact to the security staff.

The body of Dr Shiraz Bajwa was found lying in the bedroom, hands tied behind his back, mouth gagged, eyes blindfolded and with visible marks of strangulation apparent. The body of Dr Noreen Bajwa was found in the living room, hands tied behind her back, mouth gagged, blindfolded and bleeding from the nose.

Dr Shiraz was an eye-specialist who had worked at many hospitals including the Fazle Umar Hospital at Rabwah, a charitable institution of Ahmadiyya Community. Dr Noreen worked at a children’s hospital. Both of them had excellent academic and professional careers and enjoyed good reputations. Both were popular among their colleagues. Although they faced threats for some time due to their being Ahmadi, neither of them ever reacted to the provocation that they faced.

The tragedy is heightened further by the fact that Bajwas were expecting their first child in months ahead.

The murderers took away nothing precious. The cash, jewelry and other valuables belonging to the couple were found intact. The assailants were blinded apparently by hate and malice to commit this grisly act in a merciless manner. Multan is a headquarters town of anti-Ahmadi opposition. They make no secret of their ill-will and hatred on sectarian grounds. It is also the centre of intense anti-Ahmadi propaganda and hate-promoting publications. Last year they mounted a major effort to deprive Ahmadis of their prayer centre. The administration and the police responded with great care and mellowness to their challenge to Ahmadis’ limited freedom of faith and worship.

Recently the authorities had issued a warning to all concerned that sectarian and militant elements had prepared a long hit-list of Ahmadiyya locations and personalities. These attacks had picked up in frequency and gravity in recent weeks. Thus all available evidence clearly demonstrates that this was a case of targeted murder. Both of the deceased were killed because they were Ahmadis.

It is learnt that the police are investigating. Senior police officers have visited the site; however they are keeping their findings confidential. Pakistani police have a reputation to trace such murders that leave a trail of ample evidence behind, provided they are encouraged to reach the source, and political considerations are not allowed to retard the investigation process.

Brutal murder of Ahmadi hubsand and wife in Pakistan [Update]

---Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful
International Press and Media Desk
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International
22 Deer Park, London, SW19 3TL
Tel / Fax (44) 020 8544 7613 Mobile (44) 077954 90682
Email: press@ahmadiyya.org.uk
Web: Alislam.org

16 March 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Yesterday the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirmed that two of its members in Multan, Dr Shiraz Ahmad Bajwa and Dr Noreen Bajwa, were martyred in a brutal attack at their home in Wapda Colony.

Further details that have since been reported:

Dr Shiraz Bajwa was 37 years old and Dr Noreen Bajwa was 29 years of age. Both persons enjoyed extremely good reputations both professionally and personally. Both were extremely popular amongst their colleagues. Although they had faced threats for some time due to their being Ahmadi, neither of them ever reacted to the provocation that they faced.

On 14 March 2009 both bodies were discovered by their housekeeper at their home. The body of Dr Shiraz Bajwa was found lying in the bedroom, hands tied behind his back, mouth gagged, eyes blindfolded and with visible marks of strangulation apparent. The body of Dr Noreen Bajwa was found in the living room, hands tied behind her back, mouth gagged, blindfolded and bleeding from the nose.

All available evidence clearly demonstrates that this was a case of targeted murder. Both of the deceased were killed because they were Ahmadi Muslims.

These two murders bring the number of Ahmadis killed in Pakistan since 1984 to a staggering total of 100. That was the year when anti-Ahmadiyya laws were passed by the martial regime of President Zia ul Haq.

In 2009 alone 4 Ahmadis have been killed in Pakistan because of their faith.

End of Release
Further info: Abid Khan, (44) 07795490682

Brutal murder of Ahmadi hubsand and wife in Pakistan

---Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful
International Press and Media Desk
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International
22 Deer Park, London, SW19 3TL
Tel / Fax (44) 020 8544 7613 Mobile (44) 077954 90682
Email: press@ahmadiyya.org.uk
Web: Alislam.org

15 March 2009

PRESS RELEASE

BRUTAL MURDER OF AHMADI HUBSAND AND WIFE IN PAKISTAN

It is with great pain that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that two of its members were brutally murdered in Multan yesterday. The deceased, Dr Shiraz Ahmad Bajwa and Dr Noreen Bajwa were husband and wife and were both trained as doctors. Both martyrs were under the age of forty.

Yesterday at around 3.30pm local time, unknown assailants attacked Dr Shiraz and Dr Noreen at their home in Wapda Colony, Multan Road. The assailants first taped together the hands, feet and mouths of both victims. They then tied rope around their necks and strangled them to death. Following death Dr Shiraj was hung from a nearby fan.

Dr Shiraz was an eye-specialist who had served at various hospitals including the Fazl-e-Umer Hospital in Rabwah. At the time of his death he was working at a hospital in Wapda. Similarly Dr Noreen was working at a local children’s hospital. The Press Spokesman of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan said:

“What occurred in Multan yesterday was an act of such cruelty that it can never be comprehended by decent and peace loving people. Dr Shiraz and Dr Noreen had been married for just three years. They had both chosen career paths which allowed them to serve their fellow men, women and children.

Pakistan is a country that is currently facing absolute ruin. Amongst this chaos the hateful acts of religious extremists are ever increasing, to the extent that loving, caring and innocent people are being murdered because they belong to a community whose motto is ‘Love for All, Hatred for None.”

The International Community, Media and Human Rights organisations are all urged to take action to protect the lives and rights of Ahmadi Muslims both in Pakistan and in other countries where they face discrimination. In an era where freedom of religion and belief is accepted as a basic human right throughout the world it is of disbelief that Ahmadi Muslims are being murdered for no other reason than their choice of religion.

End of Release
Further info: Abid Khan, (44) 07795490682

Fifteen Ahmadis charged in Pakistan under Anti-Ahmadiyya Legislation

---Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Ever Merciful
International Press and Media Desk
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat International
22 Deer Park, London, SW19 3TL
Tel / Fax (44) 020 8544 7613 Mobile (44) 077954 90682
Email: press@ahmadiyya.org.uk
Web: Alislam.org

15 March 2009

PRESS RELEASE

FIFTEEN AHMADIS CHARGED IN PAKISTAN UNDER ANTI-AHMADIYYA LEGISLATION

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that a police case has been registered against fifteen Ahmadis at Sillanwali Police Station in District Sargodha, Pakistan. The Ahmadis are charged under Section 298C of the Pakistani Penal Code which is specifically an anti-Ahmadiyya piece of legislation. The accused Ahmadis are charged with having a place of worship, which they call a Mosque and use to offer Friday prayers and Eid prayers. Furthermore they are charged with ‘posing’ as Muslims because under the aforementioned Penal Code, Ahmadis are not allowed to class themselves as such.

Three persons, Mr Abdul Aziz, Mr Muhammad Ashraf and Mr Khizer Hayat have already been arrested and police raids are being conducted to in an attempt to arrest the remaining persons.

The background to this incident is that an Ahmadi in Sillanwali, Mr Khan Muhammad owns a few shops adjacent to the Ahmadiyya building, Baitul Zikr. A non-Ahmadi desired to hire these shops; however the owner refused this request, as was his absolute right. Thereafter the non-Ahmadi met with a local Mullah and together they conspired to fabricate a story in order to register a case against local Ahmadis. The complainant in this case is Maulvi Mushtaq.

It is of great regret that the discriminatory laws in place are a tool for religious extremists whose only wish is to deny Ahmadis the right to practice their religion peacefully and free from threats or violence.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is actively involved in dialogue in an attempt to secure the release of the three Ahmadis and to have the charges dropped, however thus far such attempts have failed. The three men arrested continue to be detained and yesterday a local Judge refused their application for bail.

End of Release
Further info: Abid Khan, press@ahmadiyya.org.uk / (44) 07795490682

West Lombok forbids Ahmadiyah refugees from returning home

---The Jakarta Post

National - Sat, 03/14/2009 1:46 PM

West Lombok forbids Ahmadiyah refugees from returning home

West Lombok regency has decided to forbid members of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect, who have been living uncertainly at a refugee center in West Nusa Tenggara for three years, to return to their homes, citing security concerns.

Basirun Anwat, spokesman of the regency, told tempointeraktif.com Saturday that the decision was made during a meeting attended by the regency secretary, the local leaders forum and sect members on Thursday.

“To ensure security, they are not allowed to go home,” he said.

Basirun also said that Ahmadiyah members were still allowed to work on their farms and that the regency was going to discuss buying their land so they could move elsewhere.

Last month, 68 Ahmadiyah members from 17 families decided to risk going from the Transito building in Mataram back to their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village, Lingsar district, West Lombok regency, on March 14.

At least 160 Ahmadiyah members from 33 families were driven from their homes when hard-line Muslims attacked them and destroyed their homes and belongings in early February 2006.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) previously issued an edict calling the Ahmadiyah heretical. The edict was seized upon by other hard-line Muslims to attack the sect’s followers elsewhere, including in West Java. (dre)

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2...h-refugees-returning-home.html

Ahmadiyah and Indonesian Democracy

---Jakarta Globe
Opinion

March 12, 2009

Wim Tangkilisan

Ahmadiyah and Indonesian Democracy

The Koran is very clear that “in matters of faith there shall be no coercion.”

And it stresses that “if it had been the will of your Lord that all the people of the world should be believers, then all the people of the earth would have believed! Would you now compel humankind against their will to believe?”

Now comes a Muslim leader, Cholid Ridwan, a chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, who warns the President of Indonesia that if he does not outlaw Ahmadiyah, an Indonesian-based Islamic sect, the council will issue a fatwa, or religious edict, prohibiting Indonesian Muslims from voting for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the upcoming presidential elections.

Ahmadiyah is a sect of Indian origin, with some links to Sufism. It is controversial because of its claim that its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last of the prophets, [Author of this article is not correct about claim of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). For Ahmadiyya beliefs please visit www.alislam.org] contrary to the basic tenet of Islam that the final of the prophets is Muhammad.

The sect is not new to controversy. In the 1930s, it was rumored that independence hero and former President Sukarno had become a propagator of Ahmadiyah. He denied it in writing, but in the process he wrote a few words of praise for the good behavior of its adherents. He was emphatic, however, that he was not one of them.

Today there are Muslim circles in Indonesia that clamor for an outright ban against the sect. That is old news. What is new is the election-related threat of a fatwa against the president if he does not outlaw the sect.

Democracy is not just about elections. Even more essential is the way minorities are treated by the majority.

Another Muslim leader, Umar Shihab, also a chairman of the MUI, says that Cholid speaks only for himself. Furthermore, he says no such fatwa is being prepared. No threat of one. But, in effect he says that it would be nice indeed if the president did outlaw the sect.

The presidential spokesman, Andi Mallarangeng, says that this is just one more sign that everyone has caught election fever. “We don’t need to worry about it at all,” he said.

What indeed is there to worry about then? We perhaps have more urgent things to concern ourselves with, like corruption in the House of Representatives and getting the economic stimulus package up and running.

But wait a minute. There are basic questions involved in this issue that need attention.

There is, of course, the question of what Islam really teaches about tolerance, about the command against coercion on matters of faith. Where does it say in the Koran or in the Hadith that an exception has to be made in the case of the Ahmadiyah? The Muslim faithful may wish to obtain some clarity on that.

Since I am not a Muslim, I should let this be a matter among Muslims. But as an Indonesian, I am most concerned about the political implications of the issue. And when I say political, I don’t mean electoral politics. President Yudhoyono, I think, will win or lose the election on the basis of his performance as leader of the nation, fatwa or no fatwa.

What I mean is Indonesian democracy. I mean Indonesia’s aspiration and claim to be the world’s third largest democracy. I mean the pride that the Indonesian people derive from our international reputation as living proof that Islam, democracy and modernization can flourish together.

I mean human rights. Freedom of thought. Freedom of speech. Freedom of association.

Democracy is not just about elections. Even more essential to democracy is the way minorities are treated by the majority — whether their rights are held sacred or trampled upon.

We take pride in our tradition of m usyawarah untuk m ufakat , or consultations leading to consensus, a process in which all views are spoken for and all interests are taken into account. But all I have been hearing about Ahmadiyah are the threats against them.

Wim Tangkilisan is the president and editor in chief of the Jakarta Globe.

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/article/12571.html

Refugees’ return home ‘welcomed’

---The Jakarta Post

The Archipelago - Mon, 03/02/2009 2:18 PM

Refugees’ return home ‘welcomed’

Panca Nugraha, The Jakarta Post, Lombok Barat

The West Lombok regency has welcomed the plan by Ahmadiyah refugees to return home, but says it hopes the sect’s members will not choose to stick out again.

Regency spokesman Basirun Anwar said the administration would facilitate the return of the followers from the Transito building refugee center to their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on March 14.

“They are West Lombok residents, so we must help them,” Basirun told The Jakarta Post on Sunday, adding the administration had received a copy of a letter from the refugees about the planned return.

Basirun also said the administration had met with local leaders in the village to discuss the matter.

Besides trying to mix with local residents, he said the leaders also urged Ahmadiyah followers to obey the recent joint ministerial decree (SKB) banning them from spreading their teachings.

Jauzi Djafar, West Nusa Tenggara chairman of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Group, promised the group would abide by the SKB, but at the same time the group also urged the residents not to use violence against its members.

After three years in limbo at the refugee center, 68 Ahmadis have decided to risk returning home.

They are among 160 followers from 33 families who were driven from their homes by hard-line Muslims in 2006.

They decided to go back since their homes were still habitable, while the remaining 92 members of the sect chose to stay at the refugee center because their homes were completely destroyed.

The Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) previously issued an edict declaring the Ahmadiyah heretical, mainly due to the sect’s belief that its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet.

Based on the edict, among other factors, the government than banned Ahmadiyah followers from spreading their teachings.

Human rights activists have deplored the use of violence against the sect’s followers and criticized the MUI for issuing the edict, which was used as a reason by the hard-liners for the attacks.

Besides followers in West Nusa Tenggara, property owned by Ahmadis in West Java were also destroyed by Muslim hard-liners.

Basirun said the West Lombok administration would coordinate with the provincial administra-tion to organize the return of the refugees.

He said the return would be conducted in a formal ceremony that would be witnessed by local Muslim leaders.

“Ketapang residents hope the return can be conducted officially. So now we are coordinating with Mataram municipality, the provincial administration and the security authorities over the return home of the refugees,” he said.

Provincial social services agency head Bachruddin said his office would provide 1 ton of rice to help out the refugees upon their return.

“Even when they do get back to their homes, they’ll still need a little help first,” he said.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news...eturn-home-welcomed039.html