Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – A ban imposed by several provincial administrations outlawing the Ahmadiyah religious sect has been described by a prominent human rights activist as a failure of the state to protect its citizens.

The ban also represents a major separation of the law from the 1945 State Constitution, the inter-religious activist said.

"The ban on Ahmadiyah in a number of provinces shows how weak the government is at protecting its citizens," KH Maman, a West Java Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) member and a leader of the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika National Alliance, said in a recent interview.

He said the state had failed to uphold the Constitution because the ban forbode citizens from practicing their faith. "The ban has showed that the state has become involved in judging a faith," he said.

Several provinces and regencies/municipalities have issued bylaws banning Ahmadiyah. They include East Java, West Java and Banten, including Samarinda city in East Kalimantan. Pontianak municipality has said it will also enact a ban on the religious sect.

Maman said the criminalization of Ahmadiyah could be interpreted as a justification of the authorities' misinterpretation of the Constitution.

"They should understand that freedom of religion and practicing the faith is protected by the 1945 Constitution. The ban is definitely against the Constitution," Maman said.

Besides the ban, the state has also failed to protect Ahmadiyah followers as citizens from various acts of violence, including those killed in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten, last month. "The government is not able to stop the various acts of violence against Ahmadis. It was absent when its citizens needed protection," he added.

Maman said the ban might encourage further violence against Ahmadis. "In terms of religion, I differ from Ahmadiyah, but I cannot tolerate the various acts of violence against them for any reason," he said.

He also criticized clerics and religious leaders who had failed to promote peace among their followers.

"The presence of various groups claiming to be Muslims who have instead often resorted to violence is proof that clerics have failed to play their role. Many of them are more interested in politics for the sake of their interest, rather than guiding people," he said.

Maman reasserted the importance of dialogue as a peaceful and dignified solution in addressing various differences, including the Ahmadiyah issue. "The state and clerics should organize a dialogue, as this is the most dignified option to deal with the issue," Maman said.

Separately, members of the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation in Manis Lor village, Jalaksana district, Kuningan, West Java, deplored the ban.

The Ahmadi settlement in Manis Lor village, which lies 40 kilometers to the south of Cirebon, is one of the biggest in Indonesia, home to around 4,350 Ahmadis.

"Religious issues are the business of the central government. Provincial administrations have no right to issue the ban," Kulman Tisnaprawira, an Ahmadi elder in Manis Lor, said.

The Ahmadiyah religious sect has been growing in Manis Lor since 1954.

The Ahmadiyah group in Kuningan has been the target of several violent attacks, the most recent of which occurred in July last year when a crowd of people claiming to be affiliated with a number of Muslim organizations attacked the Ahmadi settlement.

Several people were injured and a number of homes were damaged in the incident.