Yuli Tri Suwarni and Panca Nugraha, Bandung/Mataram – An alliance of Muslim hard-liners once again called for Ahmadiyah disbandment in Bandung on Friday and threatened anarchic movement against the government.
Gathering at Gedung Sate, the province's administrative center, the protesters said they came from 30 Muslim organizations, affiliated with the Islamic Movement Alliance (API).
They threatened to mobilize 10,000 people to occupy the State Palace if President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono failed to meet their demand that a presidential decree be issued to disband the Ahmadiyah.
The calls over Ahmadiyah were also directed to West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, saying that the disbandment would be necessary to stem further conflict among mainstream Islamic organizations and Ahmadiyah.
The protesters carried various banners in their march, one reading "Disband Ahmadiyah altogether, or face revolution". They also burned the photograph of Mirza Ghulam Mirza, who Ahmadiyah followers consider a prophet.
Early this month, a group of Ahmadiyah in Cikeusik, Banten province, was assaulted by a crowd, leaving three Ahmadis dead.
Yusuf, a protester from Cianjur, said the government's indecisiveness to disband Ahmadiyah had become a source of conflict.
"We ask why the government has no courage to disband Ahmadiyah, which is heretical to Islamic teachings," said Yusuf, who addressed the crowd atop a pickup truck in front of police personnel at Gedung Sate.
Yusuf said Heryawan should pave the way to dissolve Ahmadiyah in the province, which is home to the majority of Ahmadis in Indonesia. "Ahmadis are prohibited from living in West Java," asserted Yusuf.
The API West Java chapter coordinator, Asep Syarifudin, said protesters would occupy the State Palace from March 1 until Yudhoyono issued a decree on the disbandment of Ahmadiyah.
Based on investigation conducted by the 30 Muslim groups on the Cikeusik tragedy, he said the Ahmadis had provoked the residents by continuously spreading their beliefs, which signified a breach of a joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah.
"Why does the government maintain the sect which has obviously been a source of conflict? What's up with the government? If Yudhoyono fails to heed the aspiration of Muslims, he must quit," said Asep.
In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), the provincial chapter Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) urged the local administration to formulate a bylaw regulating inter-religious harmony to prevent religion-related conflicts in the province.
The matter was expressed by a number of religious figures affiliated with NTB FKUB on Friday in a closed meeting with Governor Zainul Majdi at his office in Mataram.
"The FKUB urges the government to issue the bylaw. The governor has responded to the matter and will follow it up," NTB FKUB head Mahfud said after the meeting.
The proposal was based on requests from inter-religious figures in NTB who had compared it to an agreement between religious figures in 1984.
Based on the agreement, the bylaw is expected to arrange issues on inter-religious harmony, such as construction of places of worship, inter-religious marriage, funerals and religious holidays.
According to Mahfud, the bylaw is necessary to anticipate and prevent religious conflicts. "Besides the bylaw, we have also asked the governor to attend invitations during religious holidays, such as Christmas. This is a form of protection toward religions in NTB," he said.
Mahfud said the FKUB also discussed the Ahmadiyah issue with Governor Zainal. "FKUB, which is made up of all the religions, has not touched the subject of Ahmadiyah because it is an internal issue of Islam. But the issue has social impacts. We support the disbandment of Ahmadiyah in NTB," said Mahfud.