Indonesia: Government to defy outside pressure on Ahmadiyah

Julian said outside pressures will not deter the government from implementing the decree, which he said can improve harmony among religious followers.

Ahmadiyah Muslims of Indonesia

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post
By TJP | National |March 24, 2011

The government will not alter its stance on Ahmadiyah, despite mounting pressures from Islamic hard-line groups, presidential spokesperson Julian Aldrin Pasha said Thursday.

Julian said the government maintained that a joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah issued in 2008 remains the best guideline in dealing with the issue.

“The decree will remain as a reference and will continue to be implemented,” he said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.


The joint ministerial decree bans Ahmadiyah from propagating its teachings. It also bans the public from attacking Ahmadiyah members.

Ahmadiyah, possibly the most persecuted group in the country's history, has about 200,000 followers. Attacks on the religious group, deemed deviant by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), have intensified in recent years.

Hard-line groups have repeatedly called for Ahmadiyah to be dissolved. On Wednesday, the Islam Reform Movement, a group under the Islamic Peoples Front (FUI), threatened to topple President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should he refuse to dissolve Ahmadiyah.

Julian said outside pressures will not deter the government from implementing the decree, which he said can improve harmony among religious followers.

“If the decree is well implemented there will be no friction or clashes,” he said.

He said the government would provide mediation should a clash occur between religious followers.

Read original post here: Govt stands ground on Ahmadiyah