Muslim hardliners in moderate Indonesia have been emboldened by the government’s caving in to pressure to ban a minority Islamic sect, an independent think tank said in a report yesterday.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) said a decree issued last month ordering the Ahmadiyah sect to stop spreading its beliefs in a prophet after Mohammed would increase social unrest.
“One official told us that this was not about freedom of religion but about law and order — without a decree, social unrest would increase,” ICG Southeast Asia Project director John Virgoe said in a statement.
“But the prospects of unrest have in fact increased because of the way in which hardline groups have worked the issue both at the grassroots and top levels of government. Having won this victory, they’ll look for others,” Virgoe said.
The report on the factors leading to the decree found that hardline groups including Hizb ut-Tahrir were targeting the sect, which has practiced its faith peacefully in Indonesia since the 1920s, to expand support and membership.
They were using their influence with the Islamic Scholars Council (MUI), the country’s main Islamic body, to influence policy despite their minimal political support in the wider community.
Pressure from hardliners for the government to outlaw Ahmadiyah despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion escalated after the MUI issued a fatwa describing the sect as “deviant” earlier this year.
“The result was a decree that is a setback for both Indonesia’s image as a country that can stand up to Islamic radicalism and President [Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono’s image as a strong leader,” the ICG report said. “The outcome suggests a government that has no clear vision of basic principles itself but rather seeks compromise between those who speak loudest.”
The ICG said Yudhoyono had allowed the MUI to have “unprecedented influence” over policy in the world’s most populous Muslim country, which has a tradition of tolerance and pluralism in keeping with its diverse religious minorities.
“The Yudhoyono government made a serious error in 2005 by inviting MUI to help shape policy,” ICG senior adviser Sidney Jones said.
“It opened the door for hardline groups to press for greater state intervention to define orthodoxy and legislate morality,” Jones said.
The ICG also said the decree ordering Indonesia’s 200,000 to 500,000 Ahmadis to stop “spreading” their faith was related to “political maneuvering” ahead of national elections next year.
The decree fell short of the total ban sought by extremists but resulted in the voluntary closure of Ahmadi mosques across the country.
Ahmadis say they have been forced underground and fear attack by extremists who declared war on the sect and violently attacked a rally for religious tolerance in Jakarta on June 1.
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given
RSS