Ahmadiyah onslaught ‘hardest test’ for RI democracy

NATIONALFri, 09/30/2011 2:20 PM

Ahmadiyah onslaught ‘hardest test’ for RI democracy

Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Canberra

Indonesians used to glowing praise over the country’s democratization were abruptly shamed with scenes of February’s mob attack and brutal killing of three Ahmadis in Cikeusik, West Java, projected in the first session of annual talks on Indonesia in Canberra on Friday.

Although the mob assault was acknowledged as an extreme exception, speaker Greg Fealy said it reflected one of the “hardest tests” for Indonesian democracy.

Even though Ahmadis were the least-liked of Indonesia’s minorities, “with no one important” defending them, in part given their exclusivity, Fealy said they were entitled to state protection guaranteed by the Constitution, more so because of the hostility against them.

He noted that the government was under pressure to ban the Ahmadiyah sect, who are regarded as un-Muslim by other Muslims, because they do not regard the Prophet Muhammad as the final prophet.

Fealy was addressing Indonesian Update 2011 at the Australian National University, after Chancellor and former foreign minister Gareth Evans had lauded Indonesia as “a talismanic example to the rest of the Muslim world”.

Fealy, among the most renowned scholars on Islam in Indonesia, cited the incident as one of the indicators of Indonesia’s “regression”, along with the dwindling anti-corruption drive and declining trust in elections and political parties.

The absence of the rule of law and mixed signals from the state regarding the attack had all resulted in the immunity of “emboldened sectarian vigilantes”.

Western leaders must pay more attention to this issue, Fealy said.

He noted how Jakarta seemed to endorse bylaws in several regencies that have banned Ahmadiyah in their areas, despite the decentralization law clearly stating that religious affairs are an authority of the central government.

Fealy noted how the attackers became the victims, with Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar stating that the assault and murder may not have been a human rights violation. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who has been among many pushing for the state ban on Ahmadis, asserted that they were not Muslim.

Fealy compared the due process against the attackers to protesters who had brought a buffalo to a rally with “SBY” painted on its body. Students were immediately arrested.

“It seems insulting the President is more important” than murder, Fealy said.

“Arrests were made only after an outrage,” Fealy said. The recent verdict on the 11 attackers and one Ahmadi, their security chief, gave the latter, Deden Sujana, the sentences of between three and six months’ imprisonment, for “provoking” the attack that resulted in the death of three Ahmadis after being stabbed and tortured.

Douglas Ramage of AusAID, Australia’s aid agency, and another scholar on Indonesia, said the main factor constraining Indonesia’s progress was the weakening of its oversight institutions in recent years.

Yudhoyono’s leadership, he added, reflected “extreme inclusiveness and consensus”, Ramage said. This guarantees stability but showed a failure of Yudhoyono’s leadership for reform, “ceding space for others to roll back ‘reformasi’”.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/09/30/ahmadiyah...democracy.html

Survivors Recount Violence in Cikeusik

INDONESIA

Survivors Recount Violence in Cikeusik

Ulma Haryanto | May 16, 2011

The house in Cikeusik, Banten, where a mob attacked an Ahmadiyah community in February. Three Ahmadiyah members were killed in the attack. (Antara Photo)

Ahmad Masihuddin, Irwan and Bebi are the lucky ones.

Ahmad recalls the moment when a man attempted to mutilate his genitals, while Irwan has developed an intense fear of water. Bebi cannot speak, due to a dislocated jaw, and must eat through a straw.

Despite the fear of reprisals, two of these three men — Ahmad and Irwan — met with the Jakarta Globe over the weekend to recount their memories of the bloody attack against a small group of Amhadiyah sect members in the village of Cikeusik, Banten, on Feb. 6.

On that day, three Ahmadis — Roni Pasaroni, Warsono and Tubagus Chandra — were killed by a 1,500-strong mob. Much of the violence was captured on video, and footage of Ahmadi men stripped of their clothes and being brutally beaten with stones and bamboo sticks can be seen on YouTube.

Twelve men are facing charges in relation to the attack. If found guilty their maximum sentences could range from 12 years in jail to the death penalty.

But Irwan and Ahmad say that even the harshest of punishments for those 12 men will not blot out the acts of cruelty they witnessed and endured on that day. Nor will guilty verdicts dampen the attendant rage and frustration they feel at a police force that is widely seen as having stood by and allowing the violence to unfold.

“Police pronounced me dead when my muddy, naked body was thrown into a police truck,” Ahmad said. “If I did not use the martial arts knowledge I learned through the years, I’d be among the dead.”

The police had collected Ahmad’s battered body after he had been dragged through the dirt by a group of enraged attackers. “Along the way, people slashed me with machetes, and threw rocks and bamboo poles at me. I lost consciousness. I believed I had died.”

Unguarded

Irwan, Roni and Warsono had left for Cikeusik from Jakarta on the night of Feb. 5. Irwan told the Globe that they had traveled to Cikeusik to provide security for a demonstration that the village’s Ahmadiyah community was planning on staging the next day.

“I was at our regular Koran recital meeting in Petojo [Central Jakarta]. Roni came to me and asked if I wanted to come along with him to Cikeusik,” Irwan said. “I asked him what for. He told me to guard a demonstration.”

They arrived around 10 p.m. on Saturday night, and were met by Deden Sujana, head of security for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI). The next day, Deden would almost lose his right arm to a machete attack, and police would later name him as a suspect for triggering the violence.

Ahmad, who lives in Kalideres, West Jakarta, had likewise gone to Cikeusik to provide security for the demonstration.

“Eki, a colleague of mine at JAI, was on holiday and asked me to replace him to guard an Ahmadi home in Cikeusik. Without thinking it over, I agreed,” he said.

“I was in the same car as [Tubagus] Chandra and Diaz [Ferdiaz Muhammad, an Ahmadi who survived the incident]. Chandra was driving, we arrived at Serang at 3 a.m. and picked up five more Ahmadis.”

Ahmad had prior experience protecting sect members. In 2008 he had guarded an Ahmadi school in Parung, Bogor, that had come under attack, and he had been on hand with the now-deceased Tubagus when one of the sect’s orphanages in Tasikmalaya, West Java, was sealed by local authorities last December.

Ahmad worked in the administrations division at JAI, while Tubagus worked for the security division with Deden. Ahmad, however, was well trained in self-defense. He had earned a black belt in Taekwondo at the age of 15, and was instructing others in Muay Thai at 18.

As Ahmad and his friends pulled into Cikeusik, he was relieved to see some dozens of police officers standing watch over both ends of the road where the house of local Ahmadiyah cleric Ismail Suparman was located. “I texted my parents so that they didn’t have to worry. The police were here,” Ahmad said.

“Suddenly, the wife of the Cikeusik village head, Inayah, ran toward us screaming. She told all of us to leave immediately, because it seemed thousands of people were marching to Cikeusik to slaughter us. Deden told her, ‘Don’t worry. We have Pak Hasan [Cikeusik Police chief of general crimes unit] here.’ ”

However, video footage posted on YouTube clearly showed the police running away when the mob attacked.

Tired from their late-night journey, Ahmad said he and his friends laid down to rest. They awoke around 10:30 a.m., he said, to loud chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and “Ahmadiyah infidels” mixed in with the sound of stones hitting the house.

To Ahmad’s ears, it sounded as if thousands of people were outside Ismail’s home. It was then, Ahmad said, that Deden rushed outside, and attempted to hit a man in a black jacket who seemed to be leading the mob.

“This man was Idris Mahdani,” Ahmad said. “He is from Banyu Mundu village [40 kilometers away from Cikeusik]. After he was hit by Deden, he retreated several steps back before taking out his machete and waved it in the air as the villagers pelted the Ahmadis with rocks.”

Vicious Beatings

Following Deden’s lead, Ahmad said he went outside and starting throwing stones back at the mob, but realizing that they were vastly outnumbered, he and some of the other sect members tried to escape out the back door of Ismail’s house. “We ended up stuck in knee-high mud at the paddy fields. We could not run. The drive to Cikeusik was taxing and we were exhausted,” he said.

The group of Ahmadis parted then, he said. Some sought cover in a patch of jungle while others headed to a nearby river.

Irwan and Ahmad fled to the river. Irwan slipped and fell in. Ahmad stumbled and was caught by the mob.

“I had with me about Rp 2 million ($235) for food and accommodation, and my BlackBerry. The mob greedily took it. But they still did not spare me.”

It was then that he saw Roni trying to go to the defense of their friend Bebi, who was on the ground being kicked by members of the mob. Someone would drop a heavy stone on Bebi’s face, but he would survive, largely because of Roni’s help.

Roni, who declined to talk to the Globe, would suffer a dislocated jaw in the attack.

In the meantime, Ahmad was fighting for his own life.

“I saw Irwan slip and fall into the river. I had 10 men on top of me trying to hit me with sticks and stones and they stabbed me with their machetes,” he said.

Ahmad said he was dragged 500 meters back to Ismail’s house, and viciously beaten the whole way. He said he saw Roni being stabbed with a bamboo spear.

“They stripped me,” Ahmad said. “They were about to cut my genitals. I shoved the man and shouted ‘You guys have to have limits!’ Another man hit me on the side but the impact also knocked away the guy who tried to mutilate my genitals.”

Ahmad said that he tried to retain his focus and stay calm during the beating, protecting his head and neck in particular to avoid being fatally wounded by the mob.

“I turned on my side and let it take the beatings. I did not want to give them my neck.” He said that he still felt a numbness in his neck from the injuries he sustained during the prolonged beating. “Part of my body went to sleep, as if struck by a stroke.”

At some point, Ahmad said, he lost consciousness.

“The police thought I was dead; they threw me into the car just like that. But I gained consciousness and started to ask for water. I was extremely dehydrated,” he said.

While Ahmad was struggling to survive the mob’s anger, Irwan was struggling to stay afloat in the river while also dodging a hail of rocks being thrown at him.

“I could barely swim,” Irwan said. “I was dragged by the current as I tried to stay afloat. In the meantime the mob was still trying to hit me with rocks,” he said.

At one point, he went under, and lost track of the time. He said he had no idea how long he was submerged, but remembered being pulled from the river.

“At one point it was all dark. But then I heard a voice calling me. It was Yadi, another Ahmadi” Irwan said. Yadi had swum against the current to rescue Irwan, dragging him to the shore.

Shirt for a Bandage

For Ahmad, the trip from Cikeusik to Malingping hospital, 10 kilometers away, took one and a half hours. He said the police gave him a shirt with which to stem the bleeding from a gash on his head.

“I met Deden in the hospital, he was holding his right hand, I saw Bebi vomiting blood, Ferdiaz put me on his lap and started giving me water, he was also injured,” he said.

Deden was taken to Pertamina hospital in Jakarta. The other men were transferred to Serang hospital, six hours away. In Serang, their fresh stitches had to be removed because they crusted with dirt.

Although Irwan did not sustain any serious injuries, he said he was now terrified of water, and had trouble recounting the details of the attack.

“I am undergoing counseling for my trauma. My therapist said that I had to think of water as my savior. If the river current didn’t carry me away, I might be one of the casualties,” he said.

Ahmad, however, said he was consumed with rage whenever he saw police officers or fundamentalist Muslims in white robes.

“Once I wanted to go to Senen, I passed the National Monument and at that time there was a demonstration on Libya and Ahmadiyah. All of a sudden I started shouting to the driver, ‘Just hit them! Hit them! Why should they make a fuss over another country when their own is still in a mess,’?” he said.

Ahmad also said he suffered from vertigo and severe headaches after the beating, and had just recently recovered the ability to speak.

“Previously, I found it almost impossible to talk,” he said.

“Once I was in Citraland [West Jakarta mall] and saw a police officer. I went to him and screamed at him, ‘What are you doing here? You’re doing nothing! Just like in Cikeusik! Officers only watch and do nothing!’ ”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/survivors-.../441269

An Ahmadi Named Suspect on Mob Attack Case

Headlines

An Ahmadi Named Suspect on Mob Attack Case

“Police accommodate the interests of both conflicting parties”

Selasa, 1 Maret 2011, 15:55 WIBBayu Galih, Dedy Priatmojo

Attackers of Ahmadi members in Banten (dok. Ahmadiyah)

VIVAnews — Jakarta Legal Aid Center condemns criminalization against an Ahmadi member named Deden, who, like many Indonesians, uses one name, by the Indonesian police as regards mob attack against Ahmadi members in Cikeusik, Banten. Police file charges toward Deden with crowd provocation and disregard of orders issued by state officials.

“Police accommodate the interests of both conflicting parties: the attackers, and the Ahmadi members. It’s not fair. It’s, on the other hand, biased,” said Director of Jakarta Legal Aid Center, Nurcholis Hidayat, in Jakarta today, March 1.

According to Nurcholis, one out of 12 suspects is an Ahmadi member who, according to him, should on the contrary be under witness protection.

“Most of the witnesses from Ahmadiyya went through interrogations from which the final testimonies will be used against them,” said Nurcholis.

URL: http://us.en.vivanews.com/news/read/207141-an-ahmadi-named-suspect-on-mob-attack-case

The tipping point, terrorism and crimes against humanity

OPINION Thu, 10/07/2010 10:28 AM

The tipping point, terrorism and crimes against humanity

Jennie S. Bev, Palo Alto

It’s mind-boggling that the National Police have claimed they are one of the best police forces in the world in tackling terrorism and that the government has claimed it is an administration that governs a pluralistic country. Their claims are far from factual conditions. Otherwise many people wouldn’t be puzzled.

The Islam Defenders Front’s (FPI) acts of terror are rampant and have reached a point where religious minorities, including both non-Muslims and Muslims, have no place to stand and breathe. Recently, the places of worship and private residences of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect have been ransacked, destroyed and burned. People have been abused physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Nothing the FPI does projects an image of peace, which is what Islam stands for. The FPI are more than religious extremists. And the Indonesian government has not acted properly to ensure they no longer perform acts of terrorism in the future.

The government must ensure that future acts of terrorism are eliminated, including those that may be perpetrated by the FPI on any civilian and any minority group. Only in this way could the country be called an integrated and pluralistic nation. Today, Indonesia is merely a segregated pluralistic country, or in other words, it looks pluralistic on the surface only.

To this day, a joint ministerial decree issued in 2008 banning Ahmadiyah members from practicing their faith in public or spreading its beliefs is still in force. In 2005, the MUI (Indonesian Ulemas Council) also issued an edict that said Ahmadiyah was heterical and blamesphemous.

Let me humbly remind the government that it allegedly “condoned” those brutal acts legally (through the joint decree) and morally (through the MUI’s edict). It might be true that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono previously expressed his sympathy to victims and asked the police to maintain security.

However, by upholding the joint ministerial decree, the government became the perpetrator of so-called “legalized persecution.” It violated the 1945 Constitution (the right to worship), principles of democracy (the protection of minorities) and principles of human rights.

Of course, the government has not signed the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Otherwise, Indonesia would have to ratify and enforce the statute. Upon enforcement, crimes against humanity could be brought to ICC in the Netherlands.

The Rome Statue defines crimes against humanity as offenses that constitute a serious attack on human dignity or cause grave humiliation to one or more human beings.

Crimes against humanity are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part of a government policy

(although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or are part of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority.

Murder, extermination, torture, rape, political, racial, or religious persecution and other inhumane acts may reach the threshold of crimes against humanity only if they are part of a widespread or systematic practice.

Let me underscore this phrase: the wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority. Not performing sufficient measures to prevent attacks by the FPI falls under this definition.

At this point, we need to keep pressuring the government and Yudhoyono to use their consciences, maintain security and respect the Indonesian people’s sense of justice. International human rights watchdog organizations are working hard to pressure the government. And we, the people, are now waiting anxiously for a tipping point.

The “tipping point” is a theory popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, which refers to the moment of critical mass, threshold or a boiling point. Certain individuals or situations may trigger the boiling point for sociological change.

Considering the current state of frustration with and distrust of government by concerned citizens, it is not an exaggeration to predict that a tipping point for Indonesia is near. Such an occurrence might manifest itself in various forms, among which include the possibility of a revolution.

A revolution itself is a fundamental change in power that takes place in a short period of time. How and when it will take place is a big question mark.

It is simply a historical fact that change occurs periodically. Indonesia has endured far too long and is ripe for a major change where every citizen is equally protected. Things are boiling now and the tipping point is near.

The writer is an author and columnist based in northern California in the US and can be reached at www.jenniesbev.com

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/07/the-tipping...-against-humanity.html

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) asks Ahmadiyah to leave Islam

HEADLINES Wed, 10/06/2010 4:13 PM

NU asks Ahmadiyah to leave Islam

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has suggested that Ahmadiyah followers no longer claim themselves as part of Islam, citing widespread rejection from Muslims in the country.

NU deputy secretary general Enceng Shobirin told a discussion on settlement to Ahmadiyah problems on Wednesday followers of the religious sect would suffer from isolation if they insisted on associating themselves with Islam while violating the basic teaching of the religion.

Enceng said violence against Ahmadis would recur as mainstream Muslims deemed the sect as a threat to Islamic teachings.

“Let’s conduct a study to find a win-win solution. In other countries Ahmadiyah followers could behave themselves,” Enceng was quoted by kompas.com.

Another speaker in the discussion, NU deputy chairman Slamet Effendi Yusuf, said Muslims across the world did not recognize Ahmadiyah as part of Islam.

“Even in Pakistan, where Ahmadiyah was born, the religious sect is not recognized as part of Islam, but its followers could practice their religious teachings. This could be the best solution to the Ahmadiyah problem,” Slamet said.

The government is reviewing a joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah in a bid to find a permanent solution to the issue, following the latest attack on an Ahmadi enclave in the West Java regency of Bogor last Friday.

Unlike Islam, Ahmadiyah does not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/06/nu-asks-ahmadiyah-leave-islam.html

Pekanbaru closes down Ahmadiyah building (Mosque)

HEADLINES Wed, 10/06/2010 10:29 AM

Pekanbaru closes down Ahmadiyah building

Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Public pressure prompted the Pekanbaru city administration to finally close down a house of worship owned by followers of the Ahmadiyah sect.

The house of worship — a musholla or small mosque — is located on Jl. Cipta Karya, Tuah Karya subdistrict, Tampan district.

Deputy Mayor Erizal Muluk said the building was sealed off following growing demands from Muslim organizations over fear of destabilizing religious harmony in the city.

“This is more a preventative measure. We closed down the house of worship before a possible escalation of conflict in the community,” Erizal said Tuesday.

Followers of Ahmadiyah have been under increased persecution recently from hard-line Muslim groups for their religious teachings, which critics say strayed from true Islam.

The latest incident was an arson attack on Ahmadis’ houses and places of worship in Bogor, West Java, last week, prompting the government to consider reviewing a 2008 joint ministerial decree.

Erizal denied accusations that the closure stripped the Ahmadis of the right to gather and to worship according to their beliefs.

“We sealed off their building for their own good,” he said.

Ahmadiyah followers, he added, claimed to be Muslims, however, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and other institutions have declared the sect deviant.

“If they are Muslims like the rest, why should they build their own houses of worship and separate themselves from the rest while praying? They can join others at the nearest mosque,” he said.

The closure, Erizal added, would also eliminate the perception that the house of worship was exclusive to Ahmadiyah followers.

The local deputy chairman of Ahmadiyah, Susilo Haryono, said they did not object to the closure in principle, but that the act required a written warrant.

“There should have been a written decision, not just a verbal one,” he said.

Ahmadis established themselves in the city in 1991, and they now number 52.

“So far we have never had any conflict with others,” Susilo said.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/06/pekanbaru-...yah-building.html

Police name Ahmadiyah follower suspect

NATIONAL Sun, 10/03/2010 8:15 PM

Police name Ahmadiyah follower suspect

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police have named Ahmadiyah follower M. Nur Yam, 35, of Ciampea, Bogor, West Java, a suspect in connection with an attack on the Islamic sect on Friday night.

“Nur admitted to stabbing Randy, 15, with a kitchen knife,” spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said Sunday as quoted by kompas.com.

Iskandar said that the incident triggered the attack on Ahmadiyah followers in Ciampea village.

On Friday night, hundreds of people set fire to a mosque, dozens of houses and vehicles belonging to the Islamic sect members.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/03/police...ttack.html

Indonesian Villagers Relive Torching of Ahmadiyah Mosque and Their Homes

INDONESIA

Indonesian Villagers Relive Torching of Ahmadiyah Mosque and Their Homes

Nivell Rayda | October 03, 2010

Indonesian Mobile Brigade policemen standing guard in front of a damaged Ahmadiyah mosque in Cisalada village, Bogor, on Saturday. A mob of 200 outsiders arrived at the remote village on Friday, smashing its windows with rocks and setting the building alight with Molotov cocktails. (AFP Photo)

Bogor. Ahmad Zainuddin, 75, had returned home to Cisalada village in Bogor after a trip into Jakarta to pick up his monthly pension stipend, just hours before his home was looted and ransacked by unknown attackers on Friday.

“All I could do was watch from a safe distance when they knocked down my front door using a bamboo chair that was sitting on my porch,” Ahmad told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday in the village.

Like Zainuddin, all 600 residents of the village are members of the Ahmadiyah, a sect deemed deviant by hard-line and mainstream Islamic groups.

Followers of Ahmadiyah, a sect founded in India in 1889, profess that the group’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the last prophet, a belief that runs counter to mainstream Islamic beliefs that reserve that claim for the Prophet Muhammad.

The nation’s highest authority on Islamic affairs, the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), issued a fatwa in 2005 against the Ahmadiyah, calling its teachings blasphemous. And the government issued a joint ministerial decree in 2008 banning its members from practicing their faith in public or spreading its beliefs.

That condemnation came to a fiery head on Friday evening when a mob of some 200 outsiders arrived at the remote village and attacked the At-Taufiq mosque, smashing its windows with rocks and setting the building alight with Molotov cocktails.

“They came with their motorbikes, honking their horns and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ [‘God is great’],” Syaidatur Rohmi, 55, told the Globe. “Most of them were teenagers. There were hundreds of them. I just hid behind the sofa and could only stare in tears as they burned the mosque.”

Village Inferno

But the destruction did not stop there. “After the first group of attackers left, a second group arrived 30 minutes later,” Syaidatur said. “This time they were targeting homes. My children and I fled for our lives along with other villagers, hiding in the graveyards.”

She said her back door was knocked open, and her sofas and coffee table were carried outside and burned.

But Syaidatur was among the more fortunate. Fellow villager Bashir Newai’s home was completely burned to the ground. “They broke into my house and took everything. Jewelry, figurines and cash — all were stolen. They torched everything else,” he told the Globe.

In total, 17 homes were ransacked and looted. Two of them, like Bashir’s, were burned beyond repair. The attackers also destroyed a kindergarten and an Islamic elementary school, as well as a car and seven motorcycles. No residents, however, were injured in the assault.

“I don’t see how we could use the mosque again,” said 57-year-old Cisalada resident Muhmiddin as he gazed at the soot-blackened walls and ceiling of the house of worship.

“The wooden beams look like they will fall apart soon,” he said. A few minutes later, one beam did just that, taking with it a portion of the ceiling. Struggling to contain his emotions, Muhmiddin managed to keep his composure as he gave a tour of the ruins. He burst into tears however, when he came across a burned section of the Koran in a field next to the mosque.

“Whoever did this are heartless monsters,” he said.

Unknown Attackers

No one had claimed responsibility for the violence over the weekend. West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said he had heard two versions of the attack’s chronology — the first being that the assault was sparked by resentment of mainstream Muslim groups toward the sect, and the second being that it was triggered after an Ahmadiyah member was stabbed by someone from another village.

Sutarman declined to elaborate where the latter rumor originated from, or the identity of the person allegedly stabbed.

“We are trying to establish what had really happened. Our team is now gathering the evidence from the scene,” he said. Around 500 heavily armed police officers, many from the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) were deployed to safeguard the village. Some 50 troops from the local military command were also stationed around the village.

“Our target right now is to ensure the safety of the villagers and to maintain security,” Sutarman said. On Saturday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed police to punish those responsible for the attack.

“President SBY has urged people not to get easily provoked by issues from unclear sources. Do not listen to rumors,” said Julian Aldrin Pasha, the head of state’s spokesman. The attack occurred on the same day that Yudhoyono had urged Indonesians not to use mosques to preach hate and violence, and instead use them as places where brotherhood and close ties between all peoples would be encouraged.

Brother Against Brother

The Ahmadiyah in Cisalada date back to 1933. Back then, the members of the sect lived in harmony with other Muslim groups. It wasn’t until the end of President Suharto’s regime in the late 1990s that the first stirrings of resentment arose. In 2001, after former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid — considered a champion of pluralism — stepped down, the calls for the sect’s disbandment intensified.

There are currently around 600,000 Ahmadiyah members throughout the country. Since 2001, many of them have faced near-constant harassment and discrimination.

Similar burnings and attacks on Ahmadiyah mosques and homes have occurred in West Java, Central Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara, where in 2006, homes belonging to members of the group were burned, leaving hundreds homeless.

More recently, mainstream Muslims, attempting to seal off an Ahmadiyah mosque, clashed with sect members in Kuningan, West Java, in July.

Harassment against Ahmadiyah members in Cisalada was first recorded in 2007, when hundreds of people protested the renovation of the mosque there. Some even went as far as to vandalize the steel rods and concrete used for the foundation of the new structure.

“Rejection against the Ahmadis in Cisalada seem to come from outside of Ciampea [in Bogor]. They are not from around here,” A. Hidayatullah, a congregation leader in the village, said on Saturday.

“Friday’s incident is by far the worse that has happened to us. Our children can’t go to school, we can’t pray at our mosque and some people are now homeless.”

With his home ransacked and his money stolen, Zainuddin said that he was not quite sure what he would do.

“This will be my lunch and dinner, unless the neighbors are kind enough to spare me their food,” he said, pointing to a bunch of unripe bananas from his garden.

“I guess I’ll have to make good of the Rp 200,000 [$22] I still have in my pocket until the end of the month. All my money was stolen and I guess I have a lot of cleaning to do since I live by myself and my house was looted.”

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, which promotes religious freedom, released a statement on Saturday demanding the government put a stop to its repeated calls to ban the sect. “Statements from the Religion Minister [Suryadharma Ali] are provocative and have only justified countless intimidations toward Ahmadiyah.”

The show of support arrived too late to stop the destruction of the mosque, but the Ahmadiyah have not lost faith. Hidayatullah said the congregation used the burned-out building for services on Sunday night.

“We won’t let this attack deter us from practicing our beliefs.”

Additional reporting by Camelia Pasandaran

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/indonesian-villag...sque-and-their-homes/399431

Jakarta Journo: Testing Indonesia’s Belief in Democracy

LIFE & TIMES

Jakarta Journo: Testing Indonesia’s Belief in Democracy

Armando Siahaan | October 03, 2010

An Indonesian Police officer standing in front of a burnt house belonging to an Ahmadiyah follower in Ciampea village, West Java province, Bogor, on Saturday. Hundreds of people set a mosque and five houses, reportedly belonging to followers of Ahmadiyah, on fire, stirring panic among the Islamic sect members, local media said. (EPA Photo)

This is truly a dark time for the country. Friday’s mob attack on the Ahmadiyah sect in Ciampea, Bogor, is a concrete example of an alarming trend. We are witnessing yet again the escalating — yet unchecked — oppression of a minority group.

On Friday, angry villagers in Ciampea ransacked and burned a mosque and some houses belonging to members of Ahmadiyah, a minority denomination deemed deviant and heretical by mainstream Islam.

Both sides have their own versions of what ignited the encounter. But determining who is to blame for this should not be our main concern, as this is just another episode in a larger, more systemic and endemic attack against the sect.

In July, a confrontation erupted in Manis Lor village, Kuningan, West Java, when the local government and a hard-line Islamic group tried to close down an Ahmadiyah mosque and were met with fierce resistance from its followers. Other incidents have taken place in West Java towns and villages like Tasikmalaya, Parung and Garut, as well as in East Lombok. These places are no strangers to violent persecution.

But Ahmadiyah is not the only group suffering from pugnacious oppression. Vigilant Islamic groups have also targeted Christians. Churches have been shut down and churchgoers have been harassed, culminating in the recent assaults on an elder and a female pastor from the HKBP Church in Ciketing, Bekasi.

And we must not turn a blind eye to the menacing protests by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and a small group of university students against the Q! Film Festival, which showcases films with gay themes. The Indonesia Council of Ulema (MUI) has joined the protests, claiming that the festival promotes a lifestyle contradictory to Islamic and Indonesian cultural values. Even worse, MUI has pilloried homosexuality as a form of human rights abuse. The protesters have accused the festival of screening pornographic movies, but their actions were certainly nothing but a bare-faced attack against gays in general.

At the same time, surveys by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society and a joint study by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) and Lazuardi Biru, a de-radicalization program, respectively found that 57.8 percent and 63.8 percent of respondents would object if other religious groups built a house of worship in their neighborhood.

These surveys and the recent attacks against minority groups strengthen the worrying portrait that in our supposedly pluralistic society, religious intolerance is on the rise. As such, the government must play a greater role in preserving the country’s much-acclaimed pluralism and curb any movement that seeks otherwise.

To start with, the government must revoke a number of controversial policies that are clearly disadvantageous to minority groups. A 2006 joint ministerial decree requires a religious group to gather the approval of at least 60 households in the area to build a house of worship. This makes it virtually impossible for non-Muslim faiths to build houses of worship in Indonesia, making it appear to be a state-sponsored effort to curb minority faiths.

A 2008 joint ministerial decree prohibited Ahmadiyah from spreading its teachings. But the sect has been acknowledged as an official Islamic organization since 1953 and imposing the decree only suggests that the current government — despite its claim to be the guardian of post-reform democracy — condones oppression.

These discriminatory decrees must be revoked. Not only do they defy the Constitution’s promise of freedom of religion, but they are also frequently the source of trouble that leads to violent conflict.

Regarding the mistreatment of the gay community, the government must remember that this is a country that upholds the law. There is no law that prohibits homosexuality. Thus, gays deserve to be safeguarded at all costs from intimidation and assault.

The government must also turn a deaf ear to the MUI’s statement that homosexuality is a violation of human rights. It is ridiculous. If anything, enforced uniformity and conformity toward a particular belief is the violation of human rights. We also can’t have a minister publicly declaring his desire to ban Ahmadiyah. Or one whose Twitter posts suggest that homosexuality is the No. 1 cause of the rise in HIV/AIDS cases here and that the infected deserve to be stoned.

This brings us to the most important point: The government must be firmer in dealing with extremist groups that take matters into their own hands, and arrest and disband groups that pose threats against minorities. The country cannot fall into an abyss that glorifies the tyranny of the majority.

Armando Siahaan is a reporter with the Jakarta Globe and writes a weekly column about current events. Find Jakarta Journo on Facebook at http://bit.ly/apxo4g, or e-mail him at armando.siahaan@thejakartaglobe.com

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/jakarta...f-in-democracy/399365

Govt deplored for failing to stop attacks on Ahmadiyah

HEADLINES Sun, 10/03/2010 8:57 AM

Govt deplored for failing to stop attacks on Ahmadiyah

Erwida Maulia, Irawaty Wardany and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor

Embattled sect: A National Police Mobile Brigade officer guards a mosque belonging to a congregation of the Ahmadiyah sect in Ciampea, Bogor, on Saturday. Locals attacked members of the congregation Friday night. JP/Theresia Sufa

Critics renewed calls of outrage at the government’s failure to protect minority groups on Saturday after an attack on a mosque and several houses belonging to followers of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect in Bogor, West Java.

Moderate Muslim Society chairman Zuhairi Misrawi said a recent string of violent attacks against Ahmadiyah had been prompted by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali’s call last month to dismiss the sect on the grounds that it was heretical.

“We demand President Yudhoyono question the religious affairs minister for not protecting a religious minority group,” Zuhairi said at a press conference of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation on Saturday. He said the minister’s remarks could be used as justification for the attack.

Around 20 people attacked Cisalada village at around 7.15 p.m. on Friday, throwing stones at an Ahmadiyah mosque that is under construction there.

“Ahmadiyah followers successfully chased the troublemakers away, however they came back with a bigger group half an hour later and started vandalizing and setting fire to properties including the Ahmadiyah mosque, five houses, a car and two motorcycles,” said Jamaah Ahmadiyah Congregation’s national press secretary Zafrullah Ahmad Pontoh.

Zafrullah said the congregation had reported the incident to the local police, who showed up 90 minutes later.

One resident, Atun, said women and children had run into nearby rice fields to hide, and had stayed there for hours.

“I hid in the rice fields for around three hours because we were afraid of those people who threatened to kill us. We only left the fields after the police had arrived,” she said.

Separately, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that Yudhoyono “deplored the attack and has ordered law enforcers to take action against the guilty parties”.

Quoting a police report, Julian said the attack had been triggered by a rumor that Ahmadiyah followers had stabbed to death two residents of Pasar Salasa village.

“[The rumor] is not true; as of [Saturday] morning no one has been confirmed dead or admitted to hospital. But the rumor was quick to spread and provoke people to launch the attack as they thought the incident was a religious-related issue,” Julian said.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said the police had questioned four witnesses over the incident.

Ahmadiyah national security commission head Deden Sujana said all of the witnesses questioned by the police were Ahmadiyah followers.

“We are the victims but it’s our members who are undergoing police questioning,” he said.

Indonesian Conference on Religious and Peace secretary-general Johannes Hariyanto said the government was guilty of systematic neglect in preventing attacks on Ahmadiyah.

“In most of the cases, it was the victims who were criminalized,” he said.

The Ahmadiyah congregation has lived in Cisalada since 1933. It now has about 700 followers. “Their existence started being threatened in 2007. [The Friday attack] is the third,” community unit head Edi Humaedi said.

In July, Ciampea district chief Budi Lukmanul Hakim, accompanied by 24 public order officers and 300 police officers, destroyed the steel foundations of what was to be an extension of the Ahmadiyah mosque. The action cost the congregation Rp 250 million (US$26,000) in losses.

A week later, 500 protesters from a hard-line Islamic group clashed with members of the congregation in Manis Lor, Kuningan, West Java.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadarma Ali said after a meeting in Bogor on Saturday that they would hold a meeting to discuss a “permanent solution” to the Ahmadiyah problem. The talks will begin Monday.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/03/govt-...-attacks-ahmadiyah.html

Press Release: Arson attack on Ahmadiyah Mosque/Houses

Jamaat Ahmadiyah, Indonesia
Press Release	Jakarta, October 2, 2010

Arson attack on Ahmadiyah Mosque/Houses

Jemaat Ahmadiyah (Ahmadiyya Muslim Community), Indonesia hereby clarifies its position on certain points in respect of recent attacks on its Mosques and members residing in Cisalada, Ciampea Udil Village, Ciampea District, Bogor Regency:

1.	On Friday October 1, 2010 around 7:15 pm, a group of about 20 rowdy people attacked Ahmadiyah Mosque of Cisalada, Ciampea Udik Village and pelted stones. The Mosque was built and is used by Jemaat Ahmadiyah.
2.	Media reports of confrontation are totally baseless and fabrication.
3.	One of the attackers, who had surrendered was peacefully handed over to Ciampea Police through Head of local community.
4.	Officials of Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia had reported the incident to Ciampea Police as soon as it occurred.
5.	Before Police reinforcement could reach from Cisalada District, attackers gathered in masses and started burning and looting Ahmadiyah Houses and Mosque. Mosque and Mission House were partially burnt and badly damaged. Five other houses belonging to Ahmadiyah Community members, a Car and two Motorcycles were also burn to ashes.
6.	It is untrue that Security Officers evacuated Ahmadiyah Community members.
7.	The real fact is that the attackers burnt two houses owned by people of Cisalada district, Ciampea Udik village, Ciampea Regent, (who are also members of Jemaat Ahmadiyah). In order to save their lives, the occupants abandoned their houses at their own and took refuge with their sibling's houses, in same district.
8.	An official of JAI clarified that Police of Resort Bogor arrived after 1½ hour after the attacks and burning incident.
9.	JAI demands that Security Officials provide complete protection to its members and a firm action is taken against perpetrators in accordance with law.
10.	We thank everyone who has taken positive steps and sympathized with victims as well as our people who are living under injustice and yet continuously carry harmony in life as fellowmen and citizens.

National Press Secretary,
Jamaat Ahmadiyah, Indonesia

Govt to hold talk over Ahmadiyah

NATIONAL Sat, 10/02/2010 7:38 PM

Govt to hold talk over Ahmadiyah

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government said Saturday it would hold discussion over a “permanent solution” over Islamic sect Ahmadiyah following an arson attack on houses and place of worship belonging to Ahmadiyah followers in Ciampea village in the West Java regency of Bogor on Friday night.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi and Religious Affairs Minister Suryadarma said after a meeting in Bogor Saturday that the discussion would be held starting Monday.

Also attending Saturday meeting were, among others, West Java Governor Achmad Heryawan, Bogor Regent Rachmat Yasin, and West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered the home minister to work with the regional government in seeking a solution to the problem immediately. The president also ordered enforcement of the law against perpetrators of the attack.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has said peace and order has been restored in the village. There has been no report of arrests so far following the arson attack on followers of an Islamic sect which mainstream Muslim groups deem as heretical.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/02/govt-hold-talk-over-ahmadiyah.html

Kalla blames security authorities for attack on Ahmadiyah

NATIONAL Sat, 10/02/2010 5:55 PM

Kalla blames security authorities for attack on Ahmadiyah

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

Former vice president Jusuf Kalla said security authorities were to blame for the latest attack on Ahmadiyah followers on Friday night and other acts of violence plaguing the country in the last six months.

Kalla said the attack on the Islamic sect members in Ciampea village in the West Java regency of Bogor should have not occurred had the police strictly enforced the law and taken tough measures against those who violated the law.

“Security authorities should not hesitate to take stiff actions against offenders of the law. The should not be afraid of being accused of violating human rights, because human rights do not prohibit security personnel from taking firm measures,” Kalla said after a public lecture for new students of Muhammadiyah University in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Saturday.

Kalla, who now chairs the Indonesian Red Cross, said he was against Ahmadiyah teachings, but he could not tolerate the use of violence against followers of the Islamic sect, which the Indonesia Ulema Council has declared heretical.

He added that dissolving the sect was not a solution to the Ahmadiyah case, citing adverse impacts on thousands of its followers.

“In principle Ahmadiyah followers must not propagate the sect’s teachings which go against Islam. If they spread the teachings among themselves, it will not matter,” Kalla said.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/02/kalla...ck-ahmadiyah.html

Indonesian President Again Appeals for Calm After Islamic Sect Attacked

OPINION

Indonesian President Again Appeals for Calm After Islamic Sect Attacked

Camelia Pasandaran | October 02, 2010

Jakarta. Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has again appealed to the nation for calm after members of the minority Ahmadiyah sect in Ciampea, Bogor, were targeted by a violent mob.

Presidential spokesman Julian Pasha, speaking a news conference at the Presidential Palace on Saturday, said Yudhoyono had asked Indonesians “not to be easily provoked” by rumors and instead join the government in helping provide secure the country.

He was commenting in relation to the attack on Ahmadiyah, in which hundreds of villagers armed with sticks, axes and sharp weapons torched a car, four houses and part of a mosque on Friday.

The attack was reportedly motivated by false rumors that two members of Ahmadiyah – which is based on Islamic teachings but is considered heretical by mainstream Indonesian Muslims – had stabbed and killed two villagers.

The attack came just hours after Yudhoyono addressed the nation at the Baiturrahim Mosque inside the State Palace complex to ask for religious tolerance.

Julian said Yudhoyono had instructed Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, National Police and the local government to address and solve the problems in Ciampea.

“The president asks that the system function well and whenever there is a violation of the law violation by anyone, those people should be sanctioned.”

Yudhoyono also said that those responsible for spreading the rumors “should be handled properly,” Julian said.

Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), meanwhile, condemned the violence against Ahmadiyah.

She said people should be free to follow their religion, without exception, and the government should act to ensure the Constitution was upheld. Those responsible for the violence should be charged, she said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-presi...ct-attacked/399295

Editorial: It’s Time to Remove Hate From Mosques

OPINION

Editorial: It’s Time to Remove Hate From Mosques

October 02, 2010

Recent events have reminded us that terrorism remains a menace to society. One way to stop terrorists would be to prevent them from enjoying safe havens in mosques, which are holy places that should be reserved for the worship of God. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finally responded to a growing problem that already had many Indonesians worried. He has acknowledged that mosques are being used to spread violence, and has called for it to stop immediately. With the fall of the iron-fisted government of President Suharto in 1998, decades of strict surveillance of mosques also fell by the wayside. Now, it is well known that religious extremists often use mosques to spread messages of hatred, nurture dangerous radicalism and recruit jihadists.

“We should be providing comfort and peace to everyone and not turn mosques into places to encourage provocation,” Yudhoyono said after inaugurating the newly renovated Baiturrahim Mosque at the State Palace complex.

The president said that mosques should be places where brotherhood and close ties between all people were fostered and strengthened.

They should also be places where the purity of the Islamic creed and teachings are safeguarded, he said.

The president’s message is both timely and timeless, as places of worship are sacred and should be used for peaceful purposes only.

With hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of mosques spread across the country, places of worship can and should be used to unite the country.

Still, it cannot be denied that in numerous mosques on Java and other islands, messages of peace are not what is being taught. Some mosques have become centers where hard-line and radical forms of Islam are being preached and advocated.

It is not surprising then that a recent survey by a noted institution found that tolerance toward minority religions was on the decline in the country.

This alarming trend must be reversed, for the sake of national security and national unity.

Just hours after the president made his statement, a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect considered deviant by many mainstream Muslims, was attacked and set on fire in Bogor.

It was just the latest in a series of violent attacks on the Ahmadiyah this year.

In response to this rise in religious violence, analysts have called on the government to more strictly monitor hate speech and messages of extremism.

And not only those messages spread from the pulpit, but also those readily available and accessible on the Internet.

If the government is attempting to filter pornography on the Internet, it should do likewise for hate speech and messages of extremism.

Firm measures are in order.

Recent events have reminded us that terrorism remains a menace to society.

One way to stop terrorists would be to prevent them from enjoying safe havens in mosques, which are holy places that should be reserved for the worship of God.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/editorials/editoria...m-mosques/399247

Indonesian President Calls for Calm at Mosques

INDONESIA

Indonesian President Calls for Calm at Mosques

Nivell Rayda, Ulma Haryanto & Antara | October 02, 2010

In this file photo, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has spoken out in the strongest terms yet about religious violence. (Antara Photo)

Jakarta. In his strongest statement so far on religious extremism, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that mosques should not be used to preach hate and violence.

“We should be providing comfort and peace to everyone and not turn mosques into places to encourage provocation,” Yudhoyono said after opening the renovated Baiturrahim Mosque inside the State Palace complex.

The president said that mosques should be places where brotherhood and close ties between all peoples were encouraged and strengthened.

“Therefore, I urge that in the future, together, not only the congregation at Baiturrahim Mosque but all congregations wherever they are, make mosques centers of good deeds and benevolence,” Yudhoyono said.

The decades of pervasive monitoring of mosques under the dictator Suharto ended with his resignation in 1998, allowing some of those places of worship to foster a more hard-line and radical form of Islam.

Just hours after the president’s comments, a mosque belonging to the minority Ahmadiyah sect in Ciampea, Bogor, was torched.

A National Police spokesman, Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan, said the attack on the mosque was caused by unconfirmed rumors that Ahmadiyah members had stabbed two local villagers.

He said one car, part of the mosque and four houses were torched and that 250 police officers were at the site.

“They came with sticks, axes and sharp weapons. Hundreds of people showed up and started burning,” said Muchsin, an Ahmadiyah leader. ?

Worries over violent extremism again arose with Thursday’s botched suicide bombing in Bekasi.

Preliminary investigations show the bicycle bomber, Ahmad, who is still in critical condition, was a drifter influenced by jihadi messages and not connected with any major terrorist network.

Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana, ?from the University of Indonesia, said the government must impose stricter regulations on the publishing of jihadi material and expand the scope of Internet censorship, which was fixated on pornography.

“The government must identify the type of messages that can disrupt national stability or inspire others to carry out terrorist attacks and see to it that they are inaccessible,” Erlangga told the Jakarta Globe.

He said the government and religious groups should also spread messages of tolerance and peace “so that more and more people will become aware that terrorism is not the answer and that terror attacks are damaging Islam.”

Ronny Nitibaskara, another criminologist from the University of Indonesia, said law enforcers would have to “rethink” their approach to terrorism.

“We can no longer assume terrorists are using the same old ways and the attacks are being carried out by the same types,” he said.

Ken Conboy, a terrorism expert and author, said: “Instructions on how to build an explosive and messages of extremisms are available in printouts and DVDs distributed from one person to the next.”

Many Web sites, he said, spread the word of Osama Bin Laden, while others give detailed instructions on bomb making.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe

URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesian-president-calls-for-calm-at-mosques/399261

President deplores attack on Ahmadiyah followers

HEADLINES Sat, 10/02/2010 1:34 PM

President deplores attack on Ahmadiyah followers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his regret on Saturday over an arson attack on houses and place of worship belonging to Ahmadiyah followers in Ciampea village in the West Java regency of Bogor on Friday night.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the head of state had received a report on the act of violence and ordered the home minister to work with the regional government in seeking a solution to the problem immediately. The president also ordered enforcement of the law against perpetrators of the attack.

“The incident is regrettable and should have not occurred because it was sparked by misunderstanding between people of two different villages,” Julian quoted Yudhoyono.

The president said the police had found that the attack was ignited by rumors that Ahmadiyah followers had stabbed two residents of Pasar Salasa village to death.

“The rumor is not true, because until this morning no one has been confirmed dead or admitted to the hospital there. But the rumor quickly provoked the people to perpetrate the attack as they perceived the incident was related to religion,” Julian was quoted by kompas.com.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has said peace and order has been restored in the village. There has been no report of arrests so far following the arson attack on followers of an Islamic sect which mainstream Muslim groups deem as heretical.

UBL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/02/presi...owers.html

Mass groups told to resist provocation

ARCHIPELAGO Sat, 10/02/2010 9:54 AM

Mass groups told to resist provocation

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ethnic-based organizations have urged the Jakarta administration to establish a communication forum to improve tolerance and understanding among mass organizations and groups in the city.

“I suggest we launch a permanent forum that can accommodate all ethnic-based organizations in the capital. We hope we can hold meetings more frequently in the future,” said Kaharbin Syah, the secretary-general of Taman Iskandar Muda, an organization for Acehnese living in the capital.

Kahar was among several representatives of mass organizations invited to City Hall by the Jakarta administration on Friday night to discuss taking measures to anticipate and prevent further acts of violence between the groups in the capital.

Tensions among ethnic and religious groups in the capital and in Greater Jakarta have boiled over in recent months, resulting in several fatal clashes.

The latest deadly clash broke out between two ethnic gangs in front of the South Jakarta District Court on Jl. Ampera Raya, South Jakarta, on Wednesday. Three were killed in the incident.

Reports came in Friday night that an Ahmadiyah mosque and several houses in Cisalada, Bogor, had been attacked and set on fire by an unidentified group of people.

An Ahmadi who lives in Kebayoran, South Jakarta, confirmed that the house of a relative that located across from the mosque was under attack.

“My auntie who lives in front of the mosque called and said that stones were being thrown into her house and that she was scared and did not really know what was happening outside,” said the person who requested anonymity.

The Ahmadi said the aunt had hung up at 9:30 p.m. and could not be reached as of 11:30 p.m.

Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Marciano Roman, who was also present at the City Hall meeting, called on residents to resist provocation.

“Please solve problems with dignity or through communication so that long-standing relations do not break apart. Don’t solve problems with violence,” he said.

Among the organizations that attended the gathering were the Betawi Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi), the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the Indonesian Church Communion (PGI) and the Madura Family Union.

There are 394 registered mass organizations and 280 NGOs in the city, according to administration data.

The head of the city administration’s Politics and National Unity Board, Arfan Arkilie, said his office had little control over the mass organizations.

“Over the past five years, we have been able to supervise only 20 percent of the total organizations due to limited human resources,” he said.

City Police chief Insp. Gen. Timur Pradopo urged the organizations and religious leaders to set an example for their members to ignore provocative messages sent via text messages or aired on the TV.

“Remember that we want to have peaceful conditions here. Don’t just accept an invitation to protest an event,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/02/mass...provocation.html

Angry mass lays waste to houses of Ahmadiyah followers

ARCHIPELAGO Sat, 10/02/2010 9:54 AM

Angry mass lays waste to houses of Ahmadiyah followers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fire of fury: A police officer is seen in a silhouette stand outside a burning house of an Ahmadiyah follower in Ciampea Udik village in Bogor, West Java on Friday night. A number of houses and a mosque were burned down by attackers, who reject the Islamic sect. — Antara/Jafkhairi

Followers of Ahmadiyah are counting the losses following an attack on their housing complex in Ciampea Udik village in the West Java regency of Bogor by dozens of angry people on Friday night.

A number of the Islamic sect members began to stream into their village at 6 a.m. on Saturday after hours of hiding, only to see their houses badly damaged.

An Ahmadiyah follower, M. Yusuf Karim, said the attackers, mostly youths, had pelted his house with stones, smashing glass windows and home appliances inside. The attackers also set fire to his Kijang minivan.

“All our belongings have gone. Our TV set was destroyed and our wardrobe was jumbled up,” Yusuf’s wife, Siti, told kompas.com.

The night attack forced Mahfudin and his family to seek refuge at a cemetery near the village, along with about 30 other Ahmadiyah followers, including a week-old baby.

“We did not bring anything but our bodies,” Mahfudin said.

When police restored order, Mahfudin found his house was severely damaged and his furniture was burned down.

The attackers also set fire to a mosque.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/02/angry-m...hmadiyah-followers.html

Mosque, houses of Ahmadiyah followers burned down

ARCHIPELAGO Fri, 10/01/2010 10:59 PM

Mosque, houses of Ahmadiyah followers burned down

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of people set a mosque and five houses reportedly belonging to followers of Ahmadiyah in Ciampea village in the West Java regency of Bogor to fire on Friday night, stirring panic among the Islamic sect members.

Bogor police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Tomex Kurniawan said at least 150 officers and two companions of Mobile Brigade troops had been deployed to restore peace and order in the village.

A number of Ahmadiyah followers were seen fleeing their village to keep themselves from the angry mass, vivanews.com reported.

One of Ahmadiyah follower, Syaiful Mu’munin, said the arson attack came suddenly. He said the people vented their anger following a report that an Ahmadiyah member stabbed a relative of the attackers.

The Indonesian Ulema Council has banned Ahmadiyah and its teachings, calling the sect as heretical.

URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/01/mosque...s-burned-down.html