Jakarta – Vigilante groups in Bekasi, West Java, issued a threatening warning to the local Ahmadiyah community on Monday, claiming that the followers of the Islamic sect had not abided by a bylaw issued by the city's mayor a month ago that bans its members from practicing their religion in the city.
The mob, which included dozens of members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), entered an Ahmadiyah mosque in Jati Bening, Bekasi, and called on members of the group to halt all religious activities, including Friday prayers.
The mob then erected a banner in front of the Al-Misbag mosque. The banner carried a warning for the Ahmadiyah congregants not to violate the bylaw, or else they would be punished by the local administration.
The imam of the mosque, Rahmat Rahmadijaya, said that six Ahmadis were inside the mosque, having just finished their afternoon prayers, when around 30 FPI members arrived.
"They did not notify us before about the visit. They just suddenly appeared at the mosque's front door," Rahmat told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Rahmat said that some of the FPI members had asked the Ahmadis whether they thought Ahmadiyah was a heretical sect. "They asked us questions such as whether we followed a prophet other than Prophet Muhammad or if we had a holy book other than the Koran," he said.
He said that although the members of the group had not used violence, they had insisted that Ahmadis obey the bylaw, or risk serious punishment.
Rahmat said that the congregation had stopped conducting weekly sermons and prayers after the Bekasi administration issued the bylaw. "We have obeyed the rule. But we won't negotiate with them over daily and Friday prayers. We just can't do without them," he said.
Rahmat said that performing daily prayers was Ahmadis' inalienable right. "Besides, we don't bother anyone around here when we pray," he said, adding that more than 50 Ahmadis came every day to pray.
He said that members of Ahmadiyah in Bekasi would continue performing the ritual inside the mosque despite the ban.
Contacted separately, Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Priyo Widianto said that the FPI had not been the only organization that had stormed the mosque.
"As a matter of fact, there were members of several religious organizations as well as city officials who put up the banner," he said, adding that the number of Muslim activists had been exaggerated.
Priyo said that the Bekasi Police had supported the crackdown. "The bylaw restricts Ahmadis from performing religious practices and members of these Muslim organizations were just trying to remind them of that," he said.
Priyo said that police personnel had been stationed at the mosque to prevent violence. "We will protect the Ahmadis, but it would be better if they abided by the law. They have been warned over the past months but they continue performing their rituals," he said.
Chairman of human rights watchdog Setara Institute Hendardi said that the siege of the Ahmadi mosque was the logical consequence of a discriminatory bylaw.
"The bylaw is against the nation's Constitution. No institution should be allowed to restrict the freedom of citizens from performing their religious practices, not even the government," he said. (lfr)