Antara & Jakarta Globe – A disheartening irony occurred on Sunday. On the same day hundreds of Indonesians from different religions converged on Jakarta's Istora Senayan to acknowledge a UN-sponsored interfaith harmony week, members of a minority Muslim sect were killed during an attack by angry locals in Cikeusik, Banten.
According to police, three Ahmadiyah members were killed and six were severely injured after a mob numbering roughly 1,500 stormed the home of an Ahmadi man in Cikeusik, Pandeglang district, and demanded he stop hosting sect-related services.
Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) deputy chief Din Syamsuddin addressed a crowd boasting a diversity of religious beliefs in Jakarta.
"It is our hope that this event is able to send out a message to followers of all religions in Indonesia – let us, as a nation, uphold unity and oneness," said Din, who also leads the Indonesian Inter-Religious Council.
The gathering was held in conjunction with World Interfaith Harmony Week. The UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in 2010 to recognize the event annually during the first week of February.
The observance is being marked globally with meetings, religious services and the publication of academic papers and religious statements in the hope that adherents of every belief system and non-believers can build harmony and understanding through discussion.
When asked to comment on the attack, Din only said: "I have not received that information. In any case, [the Ahmadiyah] matter is more the jurisdiction of the MUI."
Human rights watchdogs strongly criticized the government and law enforcement agencies on Sunday, accusing them of complicity through neglect and calling for the resignations of key officials.
The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remove Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali from his post for repeatedly failing to react to or even acknowledge acts of religious violence during the past few years.
Setara, a Jakarta-based group advocating religious freedom, recorded 50 attacks against the Ahmadiyah in 2010.
"Instruct the National Police chief to provide security to the Ahmadis," Setara said in its statement. "Please investigate the Pandeglang Police precinct chief for his failure to protect the Ahmadiyah."
International organization Human Rights Watch accused Indonesian authorities on Thursday of failing to address the persecution of the Ahmadiyah, saying the government's lack of action reflected a political, legal and social framework that propagated a culture of religious discrimination.
"Since August, Religious Affairs Minister Ali Suryadharma has repeatedly called for the Ahmadiyah faith to be banned in Indonesia. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has failed to repudiate those statements," the organization said.
Cause for alarm
A Cikeusik villager who claimed to have witnessed the fatal Sunday morning attack said the Ahmadis in Pandeglang district had received many warnings to stop practicing their religion.
The villager, Asep Setiadi, said that for "some time" residents had asked an Ahmadi man identified as Ismail Suparman to cease all Ahmadiyah-related religious activities.
"The [majority of] villagers of Cikeusik have been so anxious about the activities of Jamaah [Congregation] Ahmadiyah. So many of our own people ended up following that sect," Asep said.
"We asked Suparman to disband these activities and stop teaching people [about Ahmadiyah]," he added. "But he did not listen. He instead said, 'It is better to die than to disband ourselves.' He kept on teaching about [Pakistani sect founder] Mirza Ghulam Ahmad."
Asep said the visit to Ismail's home on Sunday was merely to talk some sense into him. Village elders and religious leaders had hoped to convince him to disband the congregation. "We arrived at his home and there were already dozens of Ahmadis. They were armed. A clash occurred," Asep said.
According to police, 25 Ahmadis had traveled from Jakarta to Cikeusik to guard Ismail's home while he was at the local police station to discuss his Filipino wife's immigration status. Police had asked the Ahmadis to leave, but they refused.
With tensions running high, police said, members of the mob attacked with edged weapons and blunt objects, leading to the three fatalities.
On Sunday, MUI Banten chief Wahaf Afif said the attack could have been prevented if the Ahmadiyah groups practicing in the province had been disbanded earlier. Wahaf said his group had sent a letter to the Banten High Prosecutor's Office four months ago requesting that all Ahmadiyah congregations in Banten be broken up.
"Four months ago the MUI had sent off that letter. But until now, the [Ahmadis] are still around, and now this incident occurred," he said.
"Their presence is not only felt in Cikeusik but in so many parts of Banten. We had anticipated the anxiety felt by residents, which is why we sent off that letter. We regret that the prosecutor's office did not follow our request for the disbandment."
In denial
Last month, top cabinet ministers angrily denied accusations from nine religious leaders that the government lied to the Indonesian people regarding the prevalence of inter-religious violence, among other complaints.
Yudhoyono held a closed-door meeting with the religious leaders after their statements drew return fire from the irate ministers.
Ahmad Syafii Maarif, a professor of the Yogyakarta State University and former chief of the Muhammadiyah Islamic organization, said on Saturday that criticism of the government's inaction toward religious violence was not politically motivated, but it was a necessary step in securing religious freedom for all Indonesians.
He said those who were furious about the actions of the inter-faith leaders were unaware of the underlying substance of the problem.
"The aim is improvement of the nation. The strategy is cultural and it takes a long time – years – and not just a short time to realize it," he said after attending a cultural oration by former President B.J. Habibie at Muhammadiyah University in Jakarta on Saturday.
The religious figures, including Din Syamsuddin, were prominent intellectuals and clergy members from faiths including Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism and Buddhism.
In their statement, they were especially critical of the government's failure to prevent the prevalence of violence against certain religions, as well as failing to protect freedom of speech and freedom of the press.