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| Indonesia: Islamist extremists protesting against Ahmadiyya |
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times Staff
By Ahmadiyya Times staff | February 6, 2011
Additional reporting by Abdul Musawir Maala, Jakarta
After the attack on Sambi Elen, Lombok, in 2002, once again the attacks on Jamaat Ahmadiyya Indonesia have claimed innocent lives.
Some 1,500 Islamist extremists attacked a house belonging to a local Ahmadiyah leader, leaving at least 3 dead and many seriously injured in Pandeglang district in West Java on Sunday morning, local sources reported.
According to Pandeglang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Alex Fauzy Rasyad, tensions were running high since Saturday when the Islamists mobbed the house of the local Ahmadiyah leader.
The effort was being mounted to stop the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect from holding their worship meetings there, Police chief Alex told Metro TV.
The local police also wanted Ahmadiyah members to obey Islamists' demands by leaving the residence and the house owner, Ismail Suparman, and some of his family members were arrested for questioning on Saturday at the Pandeglang police post.
The arrival of about 20 Ahmadiyah members from surrounding areas on Sunday morning to meet with Suparman family and offer assistance 'provoked the locals,' Police chief was quoted as saying.
“We [Police] had asked them [the Ahmadiyah followers] to leave but they refused. They said that they would fight until the last blood should police fail to protect them,” Alex was quoted by a MetroTV report.
The local police did fail to protect Ahmadiyah members when around 10:00 AM Sunday sentiments climaxed and the mob attacked the Ahmadiyah residence where the victims were gathered.
According to the latest information available, there were three martyred, not four as earlier reported; and six are badly injured. All victoms are Ahmadi Muslims. One automobile was also set ablaze.
The confirmed martyres are: Mr. Mulyadi, brother of the Ahmadiya leader, Ismail Suparman, a local member from Cikeusik; Mr. Tarno, also a brother of the leader and a local member from Cikeusik; and Mr. Roni, a visiting member from North Jakarta chapter.
The Minister of Coodination on Politics, Law and Security alongwith Minister of Religious Affairs, Chief of Indonesian Police Department and Attorney General immediately held meeting after the attack.
The Police Chief declared that the case would be investigated thoroughly.
The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also ordered the police to investigate the attack thoroughly.
Several prominent personalities condemned the attack, including the Chairman of GP Ansor -- Youth of organization of Nahdhatul Ulama, the biggest Islamic organization in Indonesia -- Nusron Wahid, and also from one of the Head of Nahdhatul Ulama itself, Masdar F Mas'udi.
UPDATE : via @FirdausMubarik names of the dead are: Rony, Chandra and Warsono. Mulyadi and Tarno have been found alive Monday morning while Arif Rahman Hakim & Alfin are still missing.
--- Abdul Musawir Maala, Jakarta
--- Edited by Ahmadiyya Times
To:
ReplyDelete22-02-2011
Dear
ASSALAM-O-ALAIKUM
Our Australian Ahmadiyya community is horrified to learn the brutal attack on our fellow Indonesian Ahmadis in Pandeglang (Indonesia) which is 110km from the capital Jakarta yesterday. This incident is all over the news today. A mob of over a thousand rioters attacked the house of an Ahmadi apparently demanding him to stop worshipping in his own house. The rioters incited hateful slogans and assaulted the Ahmadis present in the house, overwhelming them by large numbers. The Police acted as a silent spectator refusing to intervene or protect the Ahmadis in their own property. During this assault the extremists brutally killed three Ahmadis, which was recorded in a video, showing a vicious and savage attack in the name of religion only reminiscent of European middle age inquisitions or Nazi brutalities. This is not the first time that the minority Ahmadiyya community is targeted in Indonesia; there had been several attacks on their mosques and houses in the past few years. Many Indonesian Ahmadis are living as refugees within their own country.
Australia has great influence over Indonesia in terms of being a close neighbour and a developed country, and also a middle power in the region. We, the Australian Ahmadiyya community members urge the Australian government to condemn this event and stress the Indonesian government the need to protect its minorities and give them due freedoms to practice their faith and the rights of a free citizen. The perpetrators of Bali bombing have not stopped in spreading the hatred in the name of religion. The religious extremists in Indonesia spreading these hateful philosophies are the same who incite hatred against Ahmadis and promote terrorism in the region. Unfortunately Indonesian Ahmadis have become a soft target for these groups. The Australian government must uphold the principled stand on basic human values in a clear manner and condemn this atrocity. We also request you to make a parliamentary resolution condemning this gruesome incident reflecting the sentiments of Ahmadis living in Australia since 1903.
Yours sincerely,
MIRZA ASIF BAIG
BRISBANE AUSTRALIA