Bombs Provide Ammo for Preaching Tolerance

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Bombs Provide Ammo for Preaching Tolerance

Zubaidah Nazeer- Straits Times Indonesia | March 25, 2011

Last week’s string of mail bombs sent to several moderate Muslim leaders in Indonesia have helped to highlight their work, even as loud noises made by radicals continue to chip away at the country’s heritage of tolerance.

These leaders say they are stepping up their activities and working with other groups to emphasise religious diversity and tolerance, and they do not want to rely on the government.

Some have been quietly engaging the Ahmadiyah sect, whose believers were attacked by a mob last month in Cikeusik, Banten province, West Java.

Said Mr Zuhairi Misrawi, chairman of the Muslim Moderate Society: ‘We have been working behind the scenes with other organisations which support pluralism, and engaging our grassroots through our leaders in all provinces. So we know that on the ground, the majority do not think and feel the same way as the radicals.’

He will be meeting representatives of the Ahmadis in Bogor today.

His organization has previously fanned out to the provinces to train young religious teachers, and distributed sermons to mosques with contents that counter radical ideas.

Others like Mr Hashim Muzadi, a former chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest moderate Muslim group in Indonesia, also oppose the use of force against minority groups. He said: ‘Islamic clerics across Indonesia need to work harder… to enlighten the Ahmadis so they come back to the right path. Whatever the reason is, violence is not allowed… not by Islam, by Indonesian national law, by human rights principles.’

Three Ahmadis were killed in the mob attack last month. Since then, there has been other news of attacks against them.

Though such incidents have sparked fears that Indonesia’s Muslims are increasingly becoming intolerant, several religious leaders remain optimistic that the silent majority will not be swayed by the ideology of hate. Instead, moderate Muslim leaders criticised the government for its handling of religious conflicts.

Mr Luthfi Assyaukanie, co-founder of the Liberal Islamic Network, told The Jakarta Post: ‘Religious intolerance and the radicalisation of Islam are getting worse. The government is failing.’

Added Mr Zuhairi: ‘The government inaction shows its weakness and ignorance in dealing with religious tensions.’

The Muslim Moderate Society is a member of the Alliance for Diversity and Religious Freedom, a band of 25 organisations from different faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Pastor Johannes Hariyanto, secretary-general of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, said: ‘A lot of us who advocate pluralism have been engaged in regular dialogues for some time but… we should push to make the majority voice louder.’

He added: ‘Indonesia has a rich history of religious diversity and tolerance, but since the mid-1990s some groups have brought back rigid and extreme versions of Islam they were exposed to while studying in some Arab countries. These are not suitable for a secular, multi-religious society like ours.’

The mail bombs jolted many Indonesians as they were sent to those seen to be advocating religious pluralism, observers say. One was sent to Mr Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, founder of the Liberal Islamic Network. Another was sent to the youth chief of a nationalist organisation, while a third was sent to a rock musician who sings songs about Indonesia’s pluralism and diversity.

‘Yes, I am worried that pluralist Muslims are targeted, but we should not be discouraged,’ said Mr Zuhairi. ‘We should continue our work of spreading tolerance and reminding everyone that the Indonesian Constitution protects the rights of everyone to practise their beliefs peacefully.’

Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia…

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/bombs.../431556

Dialogue Won’t Wait for Ahmadiyah

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Dialogue Won’t Wait for Ahmadiyah

Camelia Pasandaran & Antara | March 25, 2011

Having missed out on getting its voice heard on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation has two more days to attend hearings at a national dialogue organized by the Religious Affairs Ministry.

The hearings are geared toward resolving an ongoing nationwide dispute over the minority Ahmadiyah sect, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said on Thursday.

He added that no amendment would be made to the schedule of the dialog simply to accommodate the wishes of the sect.

“If they want to come, we will be holding this dialogue on March 28 and 29. They could come on those days. If they have no intentions to resolve this matter, they should come and explain why,” the minister said.

The congregation, also known as the JAI, said it declined the invitation because of the short notice it was given, plus the venue — the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Zafrullah Pontoh, the JAI’s national secretary, said on Monday that the invitation had only arrived on Friday, adding that the group had been allocated just four seats at the conference.

Wednesday’s talks saw a majority of the representatives agreeing to the complete disbandment of Ahmadiyah.

In a separate development, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan claimed that hundreds of Ahmadis had converted to the “correct” teachings of Islam following the recent issuance of local regulations banning the religious activities of the sect.

“Hundreds of Ahmadis have come to the correct path of Islam in West Java,” Ahmad said on Thursday.

“It is my hope that the figure reaches 500 Ahmadis.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/dialogue.../431551

Indonesia’s Yudhoyono in the Cross Hairs

In this photo taken on February 18, 201, protesters shout slogans during a rally against the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect in Jakarta. (Photo: Getty Images)

Indonesia’s Yudhoyono in the Cross Hairs

Thursday, March 24, 2011 By ASIA SENTINEL

It has seemed a mystery in recent weeks—why is the Ahmadiyah sect such a big issue all of a sudden in Indonesia?

Ever since a violent attack in early February by a mob of some 1,500 people killed three sect followers in a small village in West Java, it has seemed obvious that the campaign against the Ahmadis is coordinated and systematic beyond whatever “threat” an estimated 200,000 members could pose to Indonesia’s roughly 205 million Muslims.

On Tuesday, Al Jazeera English attempted to answer that question by airing long-whispered reports that “senior retired generals” are supporting Islamic hardliners to incite religious violence and overthrow Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“The generals are using the groups in their efforts to topple President Yudhoyono because they feel he is too weak and too reformist,” Al Jazeera correspondent Step Vassen said in the report.

Ahmadiyah, which is reviled because it believes its founder was the last prophet, not Mohammed, is an easy target with few allies. The attacks have put Yudhoyono in the position of having to reluctantly defend Indonesia’s tradition of tolerance against mob violence—a stance the Islamist hard liners use against him.

The network acknowledged that reports that the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI), which has been linked to attacks on Christians and moderate Muslims in addition to Ahmadiyah, had powerful backing were not new. “This can now be confirmed for the first time,” Vassen said.

“This revelation shows that behind religious violence, a dangerous political power play is happening,” she said.

It is widely known in Jakarta that the police and military have long made use of groups like the FPI as a political battering ram. Businessmen often complain privately of FPI harassment, for example, saying it amounts to little more than a shakedown for money. And while the leadership may profess adherence to Islamic ideals, the rank and file of the hard-line groups are little more than the ubiquitous street thugs known here as premen.

If what the network says is true, however, it means that a more sinister game than extorting bribes with a fearsome street militia is at work.

In the Al Jazeera report, Chep Hernawan, leader of the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis), said, “The generals are fed up with the president’s lies.”

Chep said the generals had previously attempted to use a number of issues, including corruption, to foment a backlash against the president, “but they failed.”

A retired general himself, Yudhoyono is said to have numerous enemies among his fellow former officers, although in recent months, his political party has been in talks about joining forces with Gerindra, the party headed by former Gen Prabowo Subianto, who is likely to run for president in 2014.

Prabowo, a former in-law of the late President Suharto, has been linked to human rights violations and was once thought to be intractably opposed to Yudhoyono.

The one thing he has in common with Yudhoyono, however, is an apparent commitment to secular nationalism.

Insiders say Prabowo’s party might even supplant the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party, which has supported calls to disband Ahmadiyah and numerous other efforts to strengthen the hand of Islam in Indonesia.

According to Chep on Al Jazeera, the ex-generals wanting Yudhoyono’s head “are using the Ahmadiyah issue and it works.”

“The generals say Ahmadiyah has to be disbanded or we’ll have a revolution,” Chep said, adding that he was approached on the issue by a retired three-star general in January.

“He told me that we should keep fighting a jihad, we should not back down so the liar can be toppled.”

In December last year, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace named Garis as one of seven radical Muslim groups working to forge political alliances with moderate clerics. The FPI was also named as one of the seven.

In Tuesday’s report, retired Army Chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, a staunch government critic, told Al Jazeera about his support for groups that he said aimed to topple Yudhoyono in a “revolution.”

“We work together to enlighten each other. Our angle is different. They fight in the name of Islam, we use national politics but we have a common goal, which is change. We want to save our country, not destroy it. The revolution should be peaceful, not anarchist or bloody.”

Al Jazeera cited a Web site that detailed a proposed cabinet line-up for the so-called Islamic government, which listed Tyasno as security minister.

Muhammad Al Khaththath, secretary general of the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI), a leader of the anti-Ahmadiyah protests, said he was one of those that had drafted the line-up.

“I have met with generals who want to overthrow the president,” he said.

“I won’t say anything more.”

Al Jazeera said that most experts rated the chances of Yudhoyono being toppled as “slim.”

“But with former generals supporting hard-line groups, the battle to end religious violence seems hard to win,” correspondent Vassen concluded.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.
URL: www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20997

Fresh Attacks on Ahmadis as Peace Dialogues Begin

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Fresh Attacks on Ahmadis as Peace Dialogues Begin

March 24, 2011

Bogor. Fresh from attending a trial hearing of men accused of burning down schools and an Ahmadi mosque in Bogor last October, some 20 men on motorcycles on Wednesday vandalized the home of an Ahmadi in the Cibuntu Kaum village of Ciampea.

The home belonged to Laswati, the mother of an Ahmadi leader, Ahmad Hidayat. Ahmad said the men on motorcycles stoned the house, breaking windows and damaging the roof.

“The attackers were a mob who had just returned from the Cisalada hearing,” Ahmad said following a trial hearing at the Cibinong District Court on the 2009 attack, which saw a mob of hundreds ransack and burn down houses, schools and a mosque in Cisalada village in Ciampea.

The village was home to 600 followers of the Ahmadiyah minority sect, which is deemed deviant by mainstream Muslims.

“According to witnesses [at Wednesday’s attack], there were at least five police officers present at the scene,” Ahmad said.

“They just watched the stoning and did nothing. Our position is really threatened now. This is the second time they have attacked Ahmadis in Ciampea.”

There were no reports of injuries. The attack came on the same day a national dialogue aiming to address the intimidation and violence faced by members of the Ahmadiyah was held in Jakarta.

Organized by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the dialogue was attended by representatives from both liberal and hard-line organizations, but not the Ahmadiyah. The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) cited the short notice given for declining the invitation.

Zafrullah Pontoh, the JAI’s national secretary, said on Monday that the invitation had only been received on Friday, adding that the group had only been allocated four seats at the conference.

Attended by representatives from the Islamic Defenders Front, the Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muhammadiyah and the Indonesian Ulema Council to name a few, Wednesday’s talks, according to the Detik online news portal, saw a majority of the representatives agreeing to the complete disbandment of the Ahmadiyah.

“We are very disappointed that the Ahmadiyah did not send any representatives” ministry official Zainuddin Daulay said.

“It was a forum where they could have voiced their concerns, stated what it is that they need and how can we accommodate them,” he added.

“We are only here to do what is best for the Ahmadis.”

Zainuddin said the forum heard discussions from nongovernmental organizations, academics and Islamic scholars. “We are going to have two more meetings before coming to a decision,” he said. “We hope [the Ahmadis] can participate.”

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Supreme Court has ruled that the trials of those allegedly behind the bloody violence that targeted the Ahmadiyah in Cikeusik, would be transferred from Banten to Jakarta.

Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah confirmed on Wednesday that Indonesia’s highest court had agreed to move the trail venue to Jakarta for safety reasons.

“As governor, I’m responsible for maintaining peace and stability in Banten,” Atut said at the Presidential Office in Jakarta. “Though I haven’t received an official response, I’ve been informed that the Supreme Court has approved our request.”

Atut said the province requested the move to prevent further clashes between Ahmadis and Cikeusik residents.

Students from Islamic boarding schools in Banten had previously threatened to stage demonstrations in Banten if the trials were transferred. Atut said the Banten Prosecutors’ Office had also requested the trials be transferred.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/fresh-attacks...

Activists Slam Govt Inaction on Ahmadiyah Cases

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Activists Slam Govt Inaction on Ahmadiyah Cases

March 23, 2011

Activists on Tuesday called for urgent state action against attacks on Ahmadiyah, saying authorities had failed to follow up on National Commission on Human Rights probes into the violence.

M.M. Billah, a former member of the commission, also known as Komnas HAM, said the body found clear proof of rights violations in last month’s mob riots against an Ahmadiyah community in Cikeusik, Banten.

The commission requested sanctions against hard-liners after it recorded instances of forced displacement, special targeting of victims and premeditated attacks. However, Billah said authorities refused to act on the findings.

Billah, now with the Jakarta-based Center for Participatory and Social Management, said inaction was not new.

“I headed the fact-finding team that was assigned to probe rights violations when Ahmadis in Parung, Bogor, were attacked in 2005,” he said.

“At the time, the Bogor Police chief told me he couldn’t arrest the perpetrators. He said if he did, an angry mob would destroy his office,” Billah said.

His team probed another assault on the minority Muslim sect a year later in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.

Billah likened the attacks to “serious crimes against humanity and genocide.”

“In Cikeusik, there was murder, deprivation of freedom and persecution,” he said.

Yoseph Adi Prasetyo, a Komnas HAM commissioner, said on Tuesday that the fact-finding report on Cikeusik was almost complete. However, he said the commission did not have the authority to prosecute.

Yoseph said this was a recurring problem, particularly in cases of alleged rights abuses by armed forces personnel. “We’d hand over our reports to the House of Representatives and they’d have to push the police and prosecutors to bring the cases to court,” he said.

“To date, there are five pending cases that have not been followed up on,” he added.

Unresolved cases include the disappearance of activists across the nation during riots in May 1998 and the shooting of protesters near Trisakti University and Semanggi in Jakarta that same year.

There was also the 1989 massacre of 130 Muslims by soldiers in Talangsari, Lampung, as well as attacks on villagers in Wasior and Wamena in Papua.

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, a researcher for Imparsial, said Komnas HAM needed more state support. “Silence is no longer golden. By doing nothing, we are approving crimes against humanity.” Ulma Haryanto

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/activists-slam...

Ahmadiyah skips ‘biased, unfair’ govt-initiated dialogue

NATIONAL Wed, 03/23/2011 11:34 PM

Ahmadiyah skips ‘biased, unfair’ govt-initiated dialogue

Ina Parlina and Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Pekanbaru

Representatives of the Ahmadiyah congregation skipped a government-initiated dialogue with officials on Tuesday, a closed-door meeting they said was aimed at discrediting their beliefs.

The Religious Affairs Ministry held a “dialogue and opinion sharing” forum on Tuesday, attended by human rights groups such as the Wahid Instiute and Setara Institute, and anti-Ahmadiyah groups such as the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI) and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

“It is regrettable that they decided not to attend. This can be seen as a sign that they do not want to find a solution,” Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said, adding that the ministry invited all parties to find a comprehensive solution to the Ahmadiyah issue.

Ministry secretary-general Bahrul Hayat said the Ahmadis should not have skipped the meeting, as the government was prepared to listen, not to preach.

The Ahmadis were invited to attend the afternoon session, as the morning session was to hear opinions from mass organizations such the FUI and the FPI.

Erna Ratnaningsih, of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), which represents Ahmadiyah congregations from across the country, said her clients insisted on refusing a “biased dialogue” with ministry officials, saying they feared their faith would be judged.

“Even though members of civil society groups were there, the Ahmadis feared they would be cornered, as happened in a 2007 dialogue. Many of the people participating in the dialog are in favor of those who want Ahmadiyah to be disbanded,” she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

In 2007, the government held a dialogue with Ahmadis and came out with seven options, including to ban it or to declare it a new religion, separate from Islam. The Ahmadis opted to be seen as part of Islam.

However, the ministry found that Ahmadis still held religious teachings deemed heretical by mainstream Muslims. The government later enacted a 2008 joint ministerial decree prohibiting the group from propagating its teachings.

Erna asserted that Ahmadiyah would not be represented at the four-day meeting. She said the invitation received by Ahmadiyah leaders only invited them to attend one session on Tuesday. “How could it be fair? We want to be involved fairly in the dialogue,” she said.

“We want a neutral mediator and participants. [The current] composition, regardless of NGOs, would only bring the matter into the perspective of religion,” she said. “What we want is a dialogue about Ahmadiyah congregations’ constitutional rights as citizens. Don’t judge them on their faith.”

Rumadi Ahmad from the Wahid Institute said his team explained at the discussion that both banning Ahmadiyah and declaring it a different religion from Islam were not the best solutions, as they would only lead to future conflict.

“I’d say that intimidation against them would likely still occur if the government imposed those two options,” he said.

Fajar Riza Ul Haq from the Maarif Institute said his team pushed the discussion to perceive the Ahmadiyah matter as more of a human rights issue, “because they were intimidated just for worshiping. Some even were attacked.”

Both activists said it was better to have an independent mediator apart from the ministry.

Meanwhile, in Pekanbaru, Riau province, authorities claimed success in supervising Ahmadis after 35 Ahmadiyah followers renounced Ahmadiyah for mainstream Islamic teachings.

The Religious Affairs Ministry’s Pekanbaru municipal office head Tarmizi Tohor said the detachment was the result of a few months of counseling and a supervising process involving a number of Islamic preachers.

“They realized their wrongdoing and have religiously sworn [not to revert] on their own will without being forced to do so,” Tarmizi said on Tuesday. “And no forceful element was involved in the process.”

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/23/ahmadiyah-skips...

Retired Generals Using Islamic Groups in Attempt to Topple President: Report

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Retired Generals Using Islamic Groups in Attempt to Topple President: Report

March 22, 2011

Al Jazeera is reporting that “senior retired generals” are supporting the Islamic Defenders Front and other hard-line groups to incite religious violence and overthrow Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“The generals are using the groups in their efforts to topple President Yudhoyono because they feel he is too weak and too reformist,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Step Vassen in the report.

Al Jazeera acknowledged that though the claims that certain hard-line groups had powerful backing were not new, “this can now be confirmed for the first time.”

“This revelation shows that behind religious violence, a dangerous political power play is happening.”

Al Jazeera quoted Chep Hernawan, leader of the Islamic Reform Movement (Garis), as saying that “the generals are fed up with the president’s lies.”

Chep said the generals had previously attempted to use a number of issues, including corruption, to foment a backlash against the president, “but they failed.”

“Now they are using the Ahmadiyah issue and it works,” he said, referring to the Islamic sect currently being persecuted by the mainstream Muslim majority.

“The generals say Ahmadiyah has to be disbanded or we’ll have a revolution.”

Chep told the cable news channel that he was approached by a retired three-star general in January.

“He told me that we should keep fighting a jihad, we should not back down so the liar can be toppled.”

In December last year, the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace named Garis as one of seven radical Muslim groups working behind the scenes to shore up their support by forging political alliances and embracing more liberal groups and moderate clerics.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), allegedly involved in a number of high-profile, well-organized religious attacks, was another of the seven groups.

Retired Army Chief Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, a staunch government critic, told Al Jezeera about his support for the groups that he said aimed to topple Yudhoyono in a “revolution.”

“We work together to enlighten each other. Our angle is different. They fight in the name of Islam, we use national politics but we have a common goal, which is change. We want to save our country, not destroy it. The revolution should be peaceful, not anarchist or bloody.”

Al Jazeera cited a Web site that detailed a proposed cabinet line-up for the so-called Islamic government, which included Tyasno.

Muhammad Al Khaththath, secretary general of the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI), a leader of the anti-Ahmadiyah protests, said he was one of those that had drafted the line-up.

He also said he had met with generals who want to overthrow the government. “I won’t say anything more,” he said.

Al Jazeera said experts said that the chances Yudhoyono being toppled “were slim.”

“But with former generals supporting hard-line groups, the battle to end religious violence seems hard to win.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/retired-generals...

Ahmadiyah Declines Invite to Ministry Dialogue

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Ahmadiyah Declines Invite to Ministry Dialogue

Arientha Primanita | March 22, 2011

The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation has cited the short notice given for its declining an invitation to a national dialogue today that aims to address the growing intimidation and violence faced by the group’s members.

Representatives of the congregation, also known as the JAI, were invited by the Ministry of Religious Affairs to attend the conference in Jakarta, which was organized to help resolve the ongoing controversy surrounding the minority Muslim sect.

Zafrullah Pontoh, the JAI’s national secretary, said on Monday that the invitation had only been received on Friday. He added that the group had only been allocated four seats at the conference.

After discussions with its legal representatives, Zafrullah said the JAI had asked the ministry to reschedule the event. He said the group had also voiced concerns about the makeup of the conference invitees and the direction of the talks.

“In the invitation we received to attend this dialogue, we were given just four seats. Plus, they gave us very short notice,” he said at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

There was no word on whether the ministry would go forward with the event or reschedule.

Zafrullah said the JAI’s stance was clear that the religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution extended to the Ahmadiyah community.

He also said other groups should be involved in any talks, including the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), because the problem had moved beyond a theological dispute and was now about protecting citizens.

“Due to the stigma attached to Ahmadis, we ask that this dialogue have set regulations and rules to give both parties enough time to offer thorough explanations,” he said. “There are so many misconceptions about Ahmadiyah. We want to be given a forum to clear up all the issues.”

Erna Ratnaningsih, chairwoman of the YLBHI, said the dialogue should be held on neutral ground, not at the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta), said if the dialogue was only facilitated by ministry, the discussion would be limited to theological issues. “The bigger issue here is human rights,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/ahmadiyah.../430756

Ministry meeting likely ‘one-sided’: Ahmadiyah

HEADLINES Tue, 03/22/2011 10:40 PM

Ministry meeting likely ‘one-sided’: Ahmadiyah

Ina Parlina and Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bandung

Rejecting ‘biased dialogue’: Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation chairwoman Erna Ratnaningsih (center) speaks at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, accompanied by Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) spokesperson Jafrullah Ahmad Pontoh (left) and JAI vice president Mirauddin (right). Erna said her clients, Ahmadiyah followers, refused to honor the Religious Affairs Ministry’s invitation to dialogue. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia is refusing to attend a meeting spnsored by the Religious Affairs Ministry scheduled for Tuesday, saying they feared they would be “lynched” at the meeting by other participants.

Erna Ratnaningsih from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), which represents Ahmadiyah congregations across the country, said that her clients refused to have a “biased dialogue”.

“The composition of the parties that will participate in the dialogue is unfair to Ahmadiyah. Many of them are in favor of those who want Ahmadiyah to be disbanded,” Erna told the press on Monday.

“Therefore, we won’t attend the dialogue.”

Erna said at least two-thirds of the total 44 participants attending would be from the Religious Affairs Ministry. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has repeatedly expressed support for bylaws banning Ahmadiyah.

The ministry also invited the Islamic People’s Front (FUI), which recently barricaded an Ahmadiyah facility in Yogyakarta, and other Muslim leaders who supported bans on Ahmadiyah. Erna denied accusations that the refusal was an indication that Ahmadiyah was being uncooperative, saying that her clients would only attend a fair dialogue.

“We will attend a dialogue only if it has a fair composition. We want the dialogue to also involve neutral parties,” she said.

She was concerned that the meeting, dubbed by the ministry a “dialogue and opinion sharing” session, would only trick Ahmadiyah into something harmful to themselves.

Nurkholis Hidayat from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said that the Ahmadiyah matter was not merely about Islam.

“It’s not about Islam. It has become a matter of the state because Ahmadis are citizens who have the same constitutional right to worship,” he said.

He added that if the government was truly committed to finding a permanent settlement on the matter they must take Ahmadiyah’s constitutional rights into consideration.

He said it would be best not to shift the matter into theological debate through unfair dialogue “because faith is individual territory that cannot be interfered”.

“I’m sure with such composition, the dialogue would only lead to Ahmadiyah dissolution,” he said.

Zafrullah Ahmad Pontoh, a spokesman for Ahmadiyah Indonesia, said the manner in which the Religious Affairs Ministry sent the invitation was suspicious.

“We received the letter on March 18, but it was dated March 16. It was Friday; it means that we had only one working day to prepare for the Tuesday dialogue,” he said. “It’s not fair.”

The ministry’s director general of guidance to the Muslim community, Nasaruddin Umar, said that he regretted Ahmadiyah’s decision not to attend the Tuesday dialogue.

“This will be a good chance for the Ahmadis to present what they called their faith to the state officials.

Show us what we called deviation as something right and not against Islam,” he said. “Deciding not to attend our meeting means they will lose their chance to show it.”

However, he asserted that his office would not impose any sanctions against Ahmadiyah.

“We will still hold the Tuesday dialogue, even without Ahmadiyah,” he said, adding that his office might schedule another dialogue for Ahmadiyah.

Nurkholis said the government’s efforts to hold such dialogue were tardy.

“All this time, local administrations have made unfair policies against Ahmadiyah and the central government did nothing,” he said.

The Legal Aid Institute said it found at least 10 new local bylaws and decrees which ban Ahmadiyah from practicing their faith after a fatal mob attack against Ahmadiyah congregation in Cikeusik village, Banten.

In Bandung, members of FUI successfully persuaded eight Ahmadiyah members to return the Ahmadis — who had been deemed heretical — to the “right path” of Islam by relieving their debt on Monday. Two men, three women and three young girls who were previously members of Ahmadi’s Al-Ukhuwah, returned to Islam, claiming that they wanted a peaceful life.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/22/ministry-meeting...

‘Bad intentions’ in Ahmadi rebuff of govt meeting: Minister

NATIONAL Tue, 03/22/2011 3:40 PM

‘Bad intentions’ in Ahmadi rebuff of govt meeting: Minister

The Jakarta Post

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali says he regrets that Ahmadis have refused to attend a discussion with the government about Ahmadiyah in the country and its interactions with others.

The discussions are scheduled for four days starting today.

“It is very regrettable that they decided not to attend. This can been seen as them having bad intentions,” Suryadharma said Tuesday.

Suryadharma said the government was hopeful that Ahmadiyah representatives would come and explain their religion. “We would like to hear their Islamic beliefs so that we can solve this matter together,” he said.

The secretary-general for the ministry, Bahrul Hayat, said the dialog was initiated by the government. He said the government was the one who wanted to listen, “not them listening to us,” he said.

Erna Ratnaningsih from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, which represents Ahmadiyah congregations across the country, said her clients refused to participate in a “biased dialog”.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/22/%E2%80%98bad...html

Demands to ban Ahmadiyah flare across archipelago

HEADLINES Mon, 03/21/2011 12:26 PM

Demands to ban Ahmadiyah flare across archipelago

Slamet Susanto and Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jambi

Demands to ban Ahmadiyah have increased in a number of regions amid recent calls from some US congressmen asking the Indonesian government to revoke laws that discriminate against the Islamic sect.

In Yogyakarta, some 300 people from different Muslim organizations grouped under the Islamic Peoples’ Front (FUI) staged a rally on Sunday demanding the provincial administration ban Ahmadiyah in the province.

Taking law into own hands: Members of the Islamic People’s Front (FUI) speak in front of police after sealing the office of minority Islamic sect Ahmadiyah in Yogyakarta on Sunday. Yogyakarta provincial administration has refused to ban the sect’s activities. JP/Slamet Susanto

Riding on motorcycles, the protesters traversed the main streets of Yogyakarta — a city that has long been respected for tolerance. The demonstrators reportedly shouted anti-Ahmadiyah sentiments in a rally that was said to be orderly and peaceful.

“Please remember Islam teaches peace. So don’t become easily provoked by the enemies of Islam by contributing to anarchy. March in two rows so you won’t disrupt the traffic,” protest coordinator Abu Almer told participants.

The protesters expressed support for the Indonesian Ulema Council’s (MUI) edict declaring that Ahmadiyah must be disbanded because of heresy and blasphemy against Islam. “Ahmadiyah must be disbanded unless they no longer use the name and symbols of Islam,” Abu Almer said.

The group also urged the provincial administration to implement the joint ministerial decree on banning Ahmadiyah activities and to issue a bylaw banning the sect.

The group symbolically closed the Ahmadiyah office in Kotabaru by attaching a piece of cloth with the word “sealed”. “This is a symbol of our demand,” Abu Almer said.

Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has repeatedly said he would not issue a special bylaw to ban Ahmadiyah, arguing that the province was peaceful and tolerant and that the authority to ban the sect lays with the central government.

In Padang, West Sumatra, Governor Irwan Prayitno said that he was ready to issue a gubernatorial regulation banning Ahmadiyah activities in the province within two days.

Irwan also said his administration would try to send a letter to the President urging a ban of Ahmadiyah since regional administrations could only ban the sect’s activities.

“In other countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia, Ahmadiyah has become a cult and not a part of Islam,” Irwan told a Cult Surveillance Coordinating Agency (Bakorpakem) forum on Friday evening.

In Palu, Central Sulawesi, the provincial branch of MUI also expressed support for the ban of Ahmadiyah activities. “Ahmadiyah is heretical because it has turned away from Islamic teachings,” MUI branch chairman Saggaf Aldjufri said, as quoted by Antara news agency on Saturday.

Central Sulawesi Governor H.B. Paliudju has previously called on local Ahmadis to return to Islamic instruction and not influence other Muslims with their teaching.

“I call on Ahmadis to temporarily stop their activities until further decision is made by the central government regarding the existence of Ahmadiyah in the country,” the governor said.

In Jambi, the provincial MUI branch said that it has been monitoring the activities of Ahmadis in the province to see if what they practiced was heresy.

Ahmadis are differentiated between those who believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophet — thus considered heresy because Islam recognizes Muhammad as the final prophet — and those who consider Mirza a preacher.

The Jambi branch chairman Handri Hasan said a survey team had been sent to regions where Ahmadis resided. “If they only considered Mirza Ghulam Ahmad an Islamic preacher then it will not be a problem,” he said.

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