Firdaus said that in 2011, the government placed an announcement in front of all Ahmadiyah mosques forbidding members from spreading the Ahmadiyah teachings.
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Camelia Pasandaran | April 13, 2013
Three Ahmadiyah mosques in Cianjur, West Java, were shut down and damaged by a group of Islamic hard-liners and local residents on Friday, the latest act of intolerance in the province.
Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman from the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), told the Jakarta Globe on Saturday that police officers and soliders witnessed all three incidents but did nothing to stop members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) from attacking the mosques that were located in three different subdistricts in Cianjur — Campaka, Ciparay and Neglasari.
“Three mosques, located close to each other, were sealed and damaged in less than three hours yesterday,” Firdaus explained. “They also shut down our mosque in Ciparay. Some of them threw stones at the windows, door and the roof tiles. The police were there, but did nothing to stop them. A police officer named Dedi from the Campaka Police even was the one that placed an announcement stating that activities of the mosque should be terminated.”
Prior to the attacks, an Ahmadiyah member, Jamal, was summoned to the Campaka subdistrict’s office to explain why his shop had been built without a permit. Jamal reportedly could not afford a permit as a local official had allegedly asked him to pay Rp 4 million.
But when Jamal arrived at the office, hundreds of FPI members were waiting. While the issue was originally about Jamal not holding a valid permit to operate his shop, some 300 FPI members decided to march from the office to the Ahmadiyah mosque in the Campaka subdistrict to shut down the place of worship. The FPI members placed a plank of wood on the door to prevent people from entering the mosque.
Firdaus explained that after members of the FPI shut down the mosque in Ciparay, they continued to Neglasari to shut down another mosque. He claimed that Adj. Sr. Comr. Lanjar Guntoro, the intelligent head of the Cianjur Police, witnessed the attack but did nothing.
Firdaus added that when they told the hard-liners that they had no legal right to close down the mosques, an FPI member told the Ahmadis that they were simply just helping the police.
Meanwhile, the government and police officers said that they were only on-site to prevent any big clashes between the Ahmadiyah and the FPI.
In 2005, all three mosques were attacked by hard-liners and more than 60 houses belonging to Ahmadis were destroyed. More houses owned by Ahmadis in Cianjur were set on fire several years later, however the perpetrators remain unknown.
Firdaus said that in 2011, the government placed an announcement in front of all Ahmadiyah mosques forbidding members from spreading the Ahmadiyah teachings.
“The announcement increases awareness of people that the mosques were belong to Ahmadiyah,” he explained, adding that he was concerned that Friday’s incident could pave the way for a bigger attack.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, the deputy director of human rights group Setara Institute, said on Saturday that the FPI might have taken justice into their own hands because of their alleged closeness with West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan.
“I believe it is related to the memorandum of understanding between the FPI and Ahmad Heryawan when he was campaigning as a governor candidate,” Bonar said. “The FPI told him that they would support Ahmad only if he agreed to stop all Ahmadiyah activities in West Java.”
While Ahmad once denied that he had signed such an agreement, he did not deny that he was in a meeting with FPI members during the campaign.
Bonar said that even if the police did shut down the mosque, it was still illegal as the gubernatorial regulation only banned the spread of Ahmadiyah teachings, not activities.
“This is insane, why ban people from praying,” Bonar said, adding that his organization had not decided whether to provide legal support to the Ahmadiyah or not. “They tend to be passive, and they use civilized way in handling the pressure.”
Read original post here: Islamic Hard-Liners Attack Three Ahmadiyah Mosques in Cianjur
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.