Indonesia: Muslim sect facing religious violence

Observers say freedom of religion in Indonesia is being tested. Last week, a ministerial decree warned that Ahmadis could face five years in jail for quote 'tarnishing religion,' but it stopped short banning the sect altogether.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: NDTV | Video Report
By NDTV | Archive | Transcript


ANCHOR:
Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population. But while over 85 percent of Indonesians are Muslim, Indonesia also has large Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist communities, which are protected under the constitution by freedom of religion. But now, life is becoming increasingly difficult for another of Indonesia's minority religious groups, the Ahmadis. The Ahmadis are an Islamic sect, but face discrimination from hardline Islamic groups, who have recently attacked their mosques and sympathizers. Here's more:

STORY:
At Jakarta's national monument earlier this month, a hardline Islamic group beat up and injured participants of a peaceful rally calling for tolerance of the Ahmadis, or followers of the Islamic sect Ahmadiyya.


[Sumarto, Ahmadiyya Follower]:
"We pray here even more intensely because we have been treated unjustly."

Indonesia's top religious council has declared Ahmadiyya a deviant sect, and hardline groups want them banned. And the Indonesian Vice president Jusuf Kalla has imposed restrictions on its followers.

[Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of Indonesia]:
"They can practice in their mosque. The only thing, they cannot do is preach to others."

Observers say freedom of religion in Indonesia is being tested. Last week, a ministerial decree warned that Ahmadis could face five years in jail for quote 'tarnishing religion,' but it stopped short banning the sect altogether.

Liberal Indonesians slammed the government's decision, saying it had caved in to pressure from Islamic hardliners. The hardline groups also represent a small minority of Indonesians, but use violence to make their voices heard.

And now the Ahmadis are worried about a backlash from hardline groups.

Ahmadiyya has about 200 million followers around the world, 500,000 of which are in Indonesia. Members of the group have often been the target by Islamic hardliners in other countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, and now, increasingly in Indonesia.





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