We fear continued impunity of vigilantes – murderers of three Ahmadi followers in Banten in 2011 were handed sentences of only three to six months jail.
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Post
By Editorial | January 25 2016
Around 1,500 members of the Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar) and their family members are being sent home from Mempawah, West Kalimantan, to their diverse hometowns, mainly in Java. The Indonesian Military assisted in the departures with navy warships, following Tuesday’s attack by “thousands of people”, and the burning of vehicles, homes and crops of the movement’s members.
The movement said it was established in 2012 to uphold the state ideology of Pancasila, but had dissolved itself last year. Authorities and religious leaders have accused it of blasphemy, since it reportedly succeeded a “deviant” organization, the Al Qiyadah Al Islamiyah, founded by Ahmad Mussadeq, who claimed to be a prophet and was sentenced in 2008 for blasphemy. The disappearance of a number of individuals believed to have joined Gafatar added to suspicion against the group.
Hundreds of Gafatar members reportedly moved to Mempawah since last October, a few hours from the provincial capital of Pontianak, to engage in farming. Now, with their forced eviction — coinciding with almost a decade since Ahmadis in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, were driven out from their homes in 2006, followed by Shiites displaced from Madura, East Java in 2013 — they will expect compensation for their land.
The government says it is hunting for “masterminds” of the Tuesday attack, just days after a consensus was reached with Gafatar members reportedly agreeing to voluntarily leave the area. Residents had expressed anxiety to local leaders over alleged attempts by the movement “to influence” others with their beliefs. Regent Ria Norsan said she could only cry when flames engulfed the homes of the community’s members.
Police have yet to announce the arrest of any of the attackers. Officials said Gafatar adherents were not banned from activities as a farming community. But when thousands descended to attack them and set fire to their property, officials failed to prevent the assault. Intelligence may have been grossly lacking, but the police should soon announce the arrest of suspected perpetrators.
More importantly, the results of the investigation into the incident must be known. For instance, are Gafatar members suspected terrorists? And with a deadly conflict a decade ago in West and Central Kalimantan that killed hundreds and pitted “locals” and “migrants” against each other, attempts to reduce “social conflict”, as stated in a 2012 law on the issue, must involve “mapping” of the conflict area.
We fear continued impunity of vigilantes – murderers of three Ahmadi followers in Banten in 2011 were handed sentences of only three to six months jail. The National Police merely warned people against violence: “The burning [of Gafatar property] reflected a public perception of Gafatar being deviant,” police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said. “I am grateful for public rejection of movements linked to terrorism and radicalism, but not with violent methods,” he was quoted as saying.
With such a soft stance by the police, and with the 1965 Blasphemy Law, the power to brand anyone deviant has too often proved dangerously easy, with the support of readily available mobs.
Read original post here: Indonesia: Mob haven? | Editorial
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