http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-fails-to-halt-persecution-of-sect-20110318-1c0jv.html
Indonesia fails to halt persecution of sect Tom Allard,Indonesia March 19, 2011 MEMBERS of the Ahmadiyah sect have been pressured by Indonesian security personnel to abandon the faith amid continuing harassment of the minority, leaders of the Islamic offshoot say. The military and government ministers have defended their actions, saying there has been no intimidation, only efforts to protect Ahmadis. Ahmadiyah followers have come under increasing attack in the past 18 months, culminating in the brutal killing of three adherents by a mob of hundreds of Islamists in Banten province in February. The Indonesian government denounced the violence and 12 people have been arrested. But several provincial governments have since introduced edicts banning Ahmadiyah, while the Minister for Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, has continued his campaign for the group to be outlawed. Ata ur-Rahman, an Ahmadiyah preacher from Cirebon in West Java, said 12 Ahmadis in his area had been summoned in recent days by the military or district chief to sign a petition disavowing their faith. ''So far only five have signed it and left Ahmadiyah,'' he said. More than 50 such approaches have been documented in West Java. Mr Ata said: ''The military guys told them, 'This is for the sake of security. We don't want things that occurred in other places happening here, too. Therefore, we ask you to join mainstream Islam. Don't follow a false sect.''' Ahmadis follow the Koran and observe most Islamic traditions, but they believe an Indian religious figure, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was a messiah foreshadowed in the Islamic Hadith. The belief angers some orthodox Muslims, who view any deviance from the tenet that Muhammad was the final prophet as deeply offensive. There are more than 200,000 Ahmadis in Indonesia, after the faith was introduced in the 1920s. Some were prominent in the independence struggle. Since a 2008 presidential decree, Ahmadiyah adherents are forbidden from proselytising and must observe their religion in private. The decree prompted much soul-searching about Indonesia's commitment to its constitutional right to freedom of religion, but incidents of harassment have continued unabated. In West Java, there have been attacks on the homes of Ahmadis, prompting police to hold followers of the sect for questioning, while failing to arrest perpetrators. The local military commander in West Java reportedly demanded the replacement of an Ahmadi cleric at a mosque in Bandung with a preacher from the conservative Indonesian Ulemas Council. In East Java, Ahmadis were told this month to remove signs outside their mosque. In South Sumatra, they were ordered to cancel a celebration of the prophet Muhammad's birthday, said preacher Basuki Ahmad. Five provinces have banned the sect since the killings in Banten, as have six regencies. This week, 27 members of US Congress wrote to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking him to overturn all decrees restricting the activities of Ahmadiyah, as well as the country's blasphemy law. ''These decrees place officials on the side of militants who . have been carrying out attacks on Ahmadiyah,'' said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
