Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Camelia Pasandaran – The military denied on Tuesday that it had ordered the Siliwangi command in West Java to encourage mainstream Muslims to occupy Ahmadiyah mosques and preach "the true path" of Islam.
The denial follows statements by one of the Army's top generals, Maj. Gen. Moeldoko, who had called on Muslims to refrain from physical violence and acts of vandalism, and instead conduct "an attack of prayer rugs" in mosques belonging to the beleaguered minority Islamic sect.
In what human rights watchdogs have called a clear attempt to forcibly convert Ahmadis, Moeldoko, the head of the Siliwangi Military Command, said earlier this month that it was better to avoid violence and instead get the Ahmadis to open up their mosques to mainstream Muslims.
"I ask all of you [Muslims] to sit inside their mosques, which are exclusive for Ahmadis," he said. "Let us fill their mosques with Islamic activities and the correct teachings of Islam."
On Tuesday, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Wiryantoro said the Army had never ordered Moeldoko to conduct such an operation.
"If there was such an order issued by our headquarters, it would have been issued to all military commands across the nation," he said. "In the case of West Java, what happened was the Siliwangi Command had been asked by the local administration to help them more effectively phase out the activities of Ahmadiyah.
"The operation in West Java was aimed at preventing further violence against Ahmadiyah. The local administration had asked the local military to guide members of Ahmadiyah," Wiryantoro said.
Moeldoko's statements on March 7 seem to have been taken up by West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who later said the sect's mosques should be accessible to all mainstream believers.
"All mosques believed to belong to Ahmadiyah can be used by anybody and everybody," Ahmad said. "A mosque, after all, should not belong to a certain community. It is open to each and every Muslim. Let us put all of our prayer mats side by side. Islam, after all, does not teach exclusivity."
According to sources in the military, Moeldoko is considered one of the best and the brightest in the Army. These sources added that he was the highest rated graduate from the Military Academy's class of 1983. He was appointed head of the Siliwangi Military Command last October, replacing Lt. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, brother of the first lady, Ani Yudhoyono.
One source told the Jakarta Globe that Moeldoko was being groomed to lead the Indonesian Military, and that he would be a top candidate for the post of Army chief along with Wibowo.
Wiryantoro's suggestion that the operation was conducted only after the West Java administration and local police asked for assistance from the military command in introducing a recent gubernatorial decree banning the activities of the sect was reiterated by Suryadharma Ali, the minister of religious affairs.
"It is not true that the military was enforcing [the decree]," Suryadharma said at the Presidential Palace. "The military was supporting a police program, but that doesn't mean [it was] carrying out coercive actions. That's not true."
There have been allegations that police and military officers in West Java have been coercing Ahmadiyah members into renouncing their faith through bribery and intimidation.
Firdaus Mubarik, a spokesman for the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), said he had received reports from Ahmadis across West Java that police and military officers had visited their homes asking them to sign sworn statements renouncing their faith.
Suryadharma denied that this constituted coercion. He said the military "was just using persuasive action" in order to prevent the possibility of "unwanted chaotic incidents" occurring in the future.
"It's better to take a preventative approach rather than later having to send in the military when something big happens," the minister said.
Though the government continues to insist it has not banned the sect, Suryadharma said on Tuesday that it was better if the "Ahmadis return to Islam."