Camelia Pasandaran – None of the regional bylaws banning the activities of Ahmadiyah followers contravene the Constitution or law, a Home Affairs Ministry official said on Wednesday.
"The ministry has evaluated, and will continue to evaluate, the bylaws," Reydonnyzar Moenek, the ministry spokesperson, told the Jakarta Globe.
"Initial results of the evaluations show that none of the bylaws contradict the Constitution, law or the joint ministerial decree," he said, referring to a 2008 decree that prohibits Ahmadis from practicing their faith in public and spreading their beliefs.
The West Java and East Java provincial governments recently issued regulations to ban the activities of Ahmadiyah followers. Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi has also announced plans to issue a similar ban.
On Monday, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo backed away from comments suggesting he was also considering banning the minority Islamic sect.
He said he would instead follow the instructions issued by Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, who stated that no gubernatorial decree or regulation should violate the Constitution.
Reydonnyzar said the ministry had met with West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who said that the province was not banning Ahmadiyah completely, but rather the regulation was issued to improve the security of the group.
"It is just about anticipating possible security threats," Reydonnyzar said. He added that none of the decrees banned the Ahmadiyah community from practicing their faith, they only banned members from spreading their beliefs. "The decree is not unconstitutional, we would never restrict someone from worshiping," he said.
Following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's calls last week for a review of discriminatory bylaws, the Home Affairs Ministry insisted that although religion was the authority of the central government, the responsibility could be handed over to the provincial, district or municipal governments.
The ministry has met several Islamic organizations from the Islamic People's Forum (FUI), the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.
"Some of them advised Ahmadiyah to stop its exclusive behavior," Reydonnyzar said. "They should not be closed to outsiders, [as they are] marrying only among their own members and being intolerant of clerics outside Ahmadiyah."
Feedback from the discussions will be used to improve the joint ministerial decree that might be upgraded into law, he said. The government, however, has not planned to conduct the same dialogue with the Ahmadiyah community.
Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), said that Ahmadiyah never planned to be exclusive. "The exclusive image came after the joint ministerial decree was issued and after mob attacks," he said. "Our mosques are open to anyone."
Firdaus said it was normal to refuse clerics from outside Ahmadiyah, as clerics were similar to the owners of the mosque. "When the West Java government want to send government clerics to Ahmadiyah mosques, it is as though the government wants to take over the mosques."