Australia: We, from the Australian Ahmadiyya community! | Letters

"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." 

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Politikana | Subroto
By  Mirza Asif Baig | March 18, 2011

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


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