THE INSTITUTE Condemns Ongoing Targeting of Ahmadis in Indonesia

“This is an aggressive hate campaign, with extremist Muslims calling for the businesses of Ahmadis to be boycotted, their properties destroyed and their clerics assassinated.” [Joseph K. Grieboski]

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Institute of Religion and Policy
By Press Releases | The Institute | March 16, 2011

Java, Indonesia - March 16, 2011 - On Sunday, a brutal attack in Java’s Banten province resulted in the deaths of three Ahmadiiyya Muslims. Video footage taken during the ambush showed the victims beaten with sticks until they were dead. Five others were injured during the attack.

This incident follows closely on the heels of another heinous mob strike when over 1000 anti-Ahmadiyya Islamists attacked the home of an Ahmadiyya cleric Ismail Suparman in Cikeusik village on February 6. On that occasion, 21 men were beaten with sticks, rocks, hoes and machetes. The Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) reportedly secretly shot a video capturing the event.


These are just two instances of the ongoing threats and violence from which Ahmadis suffer on a daily basis in Indonesia. Regarded worldwide as a peaceful people, Ahmadis are theologically considered a “sect” of Islam because they reject what many believe is a central doctrine in Islam: the belief that Muhammad is the last prophet. Because of this view, they are under constant threat of savage attacks by extremist Muslims who view Ahmadis as heretics.

In 2008 Indonesia issued a joint ministerial decree prohibiting the approximately 200,000 Ahmadis in the country from spreading their beliefs. This has led many extremist Muslims to thinking the law gives them license to take matters into their own hands.

“This is an aggressive hate campaign, with extremist Muslims calling for the businesses of Ahmadis to be boycotted, their properties destroyed and their clerics assassinated,” stated Joseph K. Grieboski, founder and chairman of THE INSTITUTE. “They aren’t just threatening the Ahmadis’ livelihoods – they are threatening their very lives. And it must stop.”

Established in India in 1889, there are approximately 160 million Ahmadis in 190 countries around the world. This peaceful community, whose motto is “Love for all, hatred for none,” has never engaged in any type of violence. Thus this gentle people are an easy target for fundamentalists, with many believing they will go to heaven if they murder someone who practices the Ahmadiyya faith.

THE INSTITUTE condemns the attacks on the Ahmadiyya people and calls upon the Government of Indonesia to investigate these deaths, to bring the executioners to justice, and to establish initiatives to protect the rights of minorities and counter extremism in Indonesia.


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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 March 2011 )


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