Islamic Tolerance Alert from peaceful, moderate Indonesia. The Ahmadiyah, a peaceful Islamic sect considered heretical by mainstream bodies, seeks help from Australia to ease its persecution in Indonesia. “Islamic sect in Indonesia seeks help from Australian consulate,” from AFP, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
DENPASAR, Indonesia – An Islamic sect in Indonesia that claims it has been persecuted by Muslim hardliners met with Australia’s consul in Bali Monday seeking international support, one of its leaders said.
Two leaders from Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim group, met with Australian staff to complain of the harassment of their members in Lombok, the tourist island next to Bali, one of them said.
Syamsir Ali said 180 members of Ahmadiyah have spent six months living in a temporary shelter in Mataram, Lombok’s capital, after hardline Muslims attacked their homes and mosques, and have not been able to return home.
He said the refugees were living on small amounts of rice and noodles supplied by the local government.
“We went to the consulate because for six months in Mataram this problem hasn’t finished,” Ali, the head of the Ahmadiyah community in Lombok, told AFP.
“They (Ahmadiyah members) are still living as refugees, their houses are destroyed, they can’t return to their houses, or to their fields, or to school. There is no legal protection,” he said.
Ali said the group wanted to meet with diplomats from other countries concerned about human rights.
“We asked, what can they do to help us?” said Ali.
He said the attack in February this year was the eighth against the group since 2001….