Jakarta mulls banning Ahmadiyah

JAKARTA Fri, 03/04/2011 6:57 PM

Jakarta mulls banning Ahmadiyah

Andreas D. Aditya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has announced plans to follow in the footsteps of a number of regions that have issued bans to prevent members of the Ahmadiyah sect from practicing their religion in public.

“If ncecessary, we can even go further to not only issue a gubernatorial decree, but instead issue a bylaw on this. The administration will have a discussion with the City Council,” Fauzi said Friday.

Previously, East and West Java and South Sulawesi have issued such bans on the sect.

Fauzi said he planned to send officials to East and West Java to study their bans.

Calls for the banning of the Ahmadiyah sect and its teachings have been increasingly heard from various Muslim elements across Indonesia over the past few weeks.

Three members of the sect were brutally murdered and several others were seriously injured in a planned mob attack in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten, last month.

Members of the sect have faced similar violence and discrimination in past attacks on their homes and property, including in Gegerung village, West Nusa Tenggara, where in February 2006 at least 12 Ahmadi families were forcibly evicted from their homes by local authorities and ordered to live in a refugee-style camp. (dre)

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URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/04/grave...java.html

After East Java, West Java Bans All of Ahmadiyah’s Activities

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After East Java, West Java Bans All of Ahmadiyah’s Activities

Yuli Krisna & Eras Poke | March 04, 2011

Bandung. West Java joined a string of other regional governments on Thursday in banning activities of the Ahmadiyah sect.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said he issued a gubernatorial regulation, No. 12 of 2011, banning the activities of the Ahmadiyah in the province. He said it was effective immediately.

“This gubernatorial regulation is a follow-up to the joint ministerial decree and a 12-point joint agreement which was also signed by representatives of the Ahmadiyah,” Ahmad said.

He was referring to a 2008 joint ministerial decree that prohibits the Ahmadiyah from practicing their faith in public and spreading their beliefs. The decree, which stopped short of banning the sect altogether, has been criticized by human rights activists as it is frequently used to justify violence against the Ahmadiyah community.

The joint agreement Ahmad referred to was recently signed and outlined some of the prohibitions on Ahmadiyah activity.

He said the gubernatorial regulation was based on the desire of the government to prevent any social conflict from breaking out because of the activities of the Ahmadiyah, which many mainstream Muslims consider a deviant sect.

“We are not in a position to dissolve the Ahmadiyah organization, but we are in a position to follow up on the joint ministerial decree and the 12-point agreement,” h e said.

The regulation prohibits Ahmadis from trying to spread Ahmadiyah teachings orally, in writing or through electronic media. That also means all signboards containing the name of the organization must be taken down from public places, including mosques and schools. Ahmadiyah attributes may no longer be visible anywhere in West Java.

“Ahmadiyah mosques are mosques for all. All Muslims should be allowed to enter those mosques,” Ahmad said. He added that religious authorities will also organize Islamic events in mosques identified as Ahmadiyah mosques to put an end to alleged exclusivism there.

The West Java regulation forbids people from launching any unlawful action against the Ahmadiyah community, but it also calls on the public to help monitor and report any violation by Ahmadiyah members.

Saerodji, who heads the West Java office for religious affairs, said there were some 17,000 Ahmadis in the province.

Sugiyanto, head of the West Java High Prosecutor’s Office, said the regulation was aimed at protecting Ahmadis from the attacks they had experienced in the past.

“We want to protect the Ahmadiyah community from anarchic actions. If there are violations of the 12-point agreement, let the authorities deal with it,” Sugiyanto said.

“This is no longer a mere call but has been laid down into a written regulations. The public should not take matters into their own hands.”

West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Suparni Parto said the regulation was a good solution and added that police would now no longer hesitate to take action against whomever violated it.

The spokesman for the Ahmadiyah community in the western part of West Java, Rafiq Ahmad Sumadi Gandakusuma, told the Jakarta Globe they had not been invited to discuss the new regulation.

Earlier this week, authorities in Surabaya, the country’s second-largest city and capital of East Java, issued a similar regulation banning the display of any Ahmadiyah attributes and any efforts by the group to spread its faith in the province.

In the province of Banten, Lebak district recently said it would issue a bylaw banning the Ahmadiyah, and Pandeglang district already issued such a decree on Feb. 21.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/after...activities/426642

Ministers Back Moves to Tighten Grip on Ahmadiyah

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Minister’s Call to Outlaw Ahmadiyah Angers Non-Governmental Organizations

amelia Pasandaran, Ulma Haryanto & Ronna Nirmala
| March 02, 2011

At the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, supporters of the Islamic People’s Forum (FPI) united behind the slogan ‘Ban Ahmadiyah or [Face a] Revolution’. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

As thousands of hard-liners gathered at Jakarta’s Hotel Indonesia traffic circle demanding the immediate disbandment of the Ahmadiyah, the Indonesian government voiced its support of moves adopted by a string of local administrations aimed at further restricting the sect’s activities.

“It is the authority of the regional head [to issue decrees on Ahmadis],” Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace. “Ahmadis insist on violating the law by spreading their beliefs. Religious freedom should not be translated into desecration of religion.”

Ahmadiyah, a minority Islamic sect, has long been at the center of a dispute between human rights activists that support its existence and Islamic hard-liners that want it disbanded.

Thousands of demonstrators from the Islamic People’s Forum (FUI) – including those supporting the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) – rallied toward the National Monument Square, with many in the crowds vowing they would continue to demonstrate until they see Ahmadiyah banned entirely.

The government in 2008 issued a joint ministerial decree banning the sect from practicing its religion openly and spreading its beliefs.

Muhammad Noval, a member of the Islamic Anti-Apostasy Peace Alliance, or Ada Api, said they now had an appropriate word to describe President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“SBY is an Ahmadi. If you see what he has done in regard to protecting the Ahmadiyah, what other word would be better to describe him than Ahmadi?” he said. “If he [Yudhoyono] does not like to be referred to as an Ahmadi, then he should issue a decree banning them!”

Separately, Julia Satari, a leader from the youth organization Pemuda Pancasila, said she wanted to offer her condolences to Yudhoyono, because in her assessment he was too lazy to resolve the issue of the Ahmadiyah.

“Ahmadis absolutely disturb the comfortable existence of Islamic worshipping. They [Ahmadiyah] are illegal according to the Constitution.”

Among the demonstrators was 7-year-old Rizdian Rangga, carrying an FPI flag. Rizdian told the Jakarta Globe he had skipped school for the massive rally. When asked why, Rizdian said: “To follow my father, and to disband the Ahmadiyah.”

FPI leader Habib Rizieq, who led the rally, condemned local media as being a tool of international Zionist groups.

Along with at least 10 other representatives from the demonstrators, Rizieq was eventually received at the Presidential Palace to discuss the demands of the protesters.

Muhammad Al-Khaththath, secretary general of the FUI, said that in the meeting with a delegation from the palace, which he said included ministers, he had told the government the “real story” about the Ahmadis.

“I saw them slightly shocked when they heard the truth about the Ahmadiyah. The Ahmadis are fakers of religion and troublemakers, I told them. It opened their eyes and hearts,” Al-Khaththath said, adding that he was certain that a presidential decree would soon be issued in regard to the Ahmadis.

Rizieq, however, said: “Our president is, after all, a politician. We should know that a politician’s promise is rarely proven.”

The governor of East Java, Soekarwo, recently issued a decree banning the sect from spreading its beliefs through any media and forbidding the display of its name in public, including signposts on mosques.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said he believed Soekarwo’s decree had been issued in total support of the 2008 joint ministerial decree.

“The regulation issued by the East Java administration should do an even better job in enforcing the SKB [the 2008 joint ministerial decree]. The governor [Soekarwo] obviously believes that a gubernatorial regulation needs to be issued for better supervision [of enforcement of the decree].”

Gamawan said that organizations demanding the disbandment of the Ahmadiyah were backed by proof that the Ahmadis had indeed violated the primary points of the decree — spreading their beliefs.

He said they had done so by putting up signs and placards citing the name Ahmadiyah in public, on top of mosques, prayer halls, educational institutions and other structures.

The minister also accused Ahmadis of wearing attributes of their organization, the Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, on their body.

The East Java governor on Tuesday said he would not have any problems with JAI board members or followers launching a legal case against his anti-Ahmadiyah decree.

“It is better that they take legal action, rather then start demonstrating, or even trigger anarchic actions,” Soekarwo said.

“We are a country that follows the law.”

Additional reporting by Antara.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/ministers...ahmadiyah/426055

Government Supports Ahmadiyah Ban in East Java

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Government Supports Ahmadiyah Ban in East Java

Camelia Pasandaran | March 01, 2011

East Java Governor Soekarwo, right, issued a decree on Monday to ban Ahmadiyah in the province. The central government showed its support for the decree on Tuesday. (AFP Photo)

The central government on Tuesday supported moves by the East Java governor to ban Ahmadiyah in the province.

“It is regional head’s authority and [Ahmadiyah] has long been banned everywhere,” said Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said at the presidential palace before the cabinet meeting.

Patrialis emphasized the joint ministerial decree that strongly warns Ahmadiyah followers against spreading their beliefs.

“So if they did spread it, the local government may take action,” he said.

Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect, has long been the at the center of a dispute between human rights activists that support its existence and Islamic hard-liners that want it disbanded.

East Java Governor Soekarwo recently released a decree to totally ban the sect in East Java. Under the decree, Ahmadiyah followers are banned from spreading their beliefs through any forms of media and are forbidden to display the sects name in public and mosques.

The move has gained supported by the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), which stated that the ban was necessary to stem demonstrations against the sect.

The minister said that by spreading their beliefs, Ahmadis had triggered conflict in many places throughout the country.

“Religious freedom should not be translated into desecration of religion,” Patrialis said. “Freedom to believe in a certain religion should not be banned. However, people should not believe in a religion and carry out its beliefs in different way to that religion. Ahmadiyah has tainted religion.”

Home Affairs Minister Gawaman Fauzi said that banning Ahmadiyah was allowed as long as it did not contradict a higher regulation.

“We will evaluate it,” Gamawan said.

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/government...java/425918

Best to Disband Ahmadiyah, Religious Minister Says

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Best to Disband Ahmadiyah, Religious Minister Says

Fitri | February 28, 2011

Minister Suryadharma Ali meeting with top religious leaders in Lombok, Mataram, on Sunday. At the meeting, the minister said he was in favor of banning Ahmadiyah but that religious leaders, not the government, had the power to make such a decision happen. (JG Photo/Fitri)

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali told a gathering of Islamic leaders on Sunday that the Ahmadiyah sect should be outlawed, but that the government did not have the power to make the decision.

To shouts of “Disband Ahmadiyah” from an audience that included the heads of about 500 Islamic boarding schools and the leaders of at least nine Islamic organizations, the minister seemed to urge religious leaders to take the lead in pushing for the minority Islamic sect to be disbanded.

“We [the government] do not have the right to disband Ahmadiyah,” he said. “That right lies in the hands of you esteemed ulema. We, the government, only have the right to regulate and control, not to disband or excommunicate.”

Suryadharma told the audience in Mataram, Lombok, which included leaders from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah and Hizbut Tahrir, that MUI branches across the country had declared Ahmadiyah a deviant sect.

On those grounds, he said, any request by religious leaders to have the sect disbanded was reasonable and had his approval.

The minister’s statement came on the same day that Habib Rizieq, leader of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), called on Muslims nationwide to attend a march on Tuesday demanding the banning of Ahmadiyah.

In a sermon in Jakarta, Rizieq invited Muslims from across Indonesia to attend a rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta to protest the sect.

Suryadharma said the government had not issued an official statement in regard to banning Ahmadiyah, but that he would favor any proposal to outlaw the sect.

“I admit that the government has not issued any such statement,” he said. “However, I personally am of the opinion that it would be best if Ahmadiyah was disbanded. In this case, there lies a question: If we let them be, will the problem eventually be resolved? And if we disband them, will the problem go away?

“If we leave them the way the are, the problem will only become much bigger. Ahmadiyah deserves to be disbanded.

“Once they are disbanded, harmony will be guaranteed. I have pushed members of Ahmadiyah to form a new sect that is devoid of any and all attributes of Islam, not to ever use the word or symbol of the mosque in any of their prayer halls, and never to accept the Koran as their holy book if they call themselves Ahmadiyah. My preference would be that they all leave Ahmadiyah and follow the right path by entering into Islam.”

He also urged religious leaders in the audience to work harder to bring what he called the “correct” teachings of Islam to isolated corners of the country, to prevent deviant sects from flourishing in those areas. He then posed a question for those supporting the rights of Ahmadis.

“ The problem now is that those who oppose Ahmadiyah are fighting against those campaigning for religious freedom,” he said. “If we work toward disbanding [Ahmadiyah], those fighting for religious freedom will accuse the government of getting in the way of religious freedom.

“So my question is, does religious freedom mean the freedom to insult someone else’s religion and rewrite the teachings of someone’s religion?”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/regional...ahmadiyah/425228