For years now we have called attention to the persecution of Ahmadis by Sunni Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia. There has been little international attention given to this ongoing low-level persecution, because, after all, it isn’t an outbreak of “Islamophobia” — now that would be news. Even worse, Ahmadi spokesmen in the West such as Qasim Rashid and Harris Zafar eagerly cooperate with the same forces that persecute them in those two countries, and vilify and libel those of us who have spoken out for the Ahmadis all these years. Do they think they will win better treatment for their people if they collaborate with their oppressors?
“Bekasi’s Embattled Ahmadiyah Mosque Sealed Once Again,” by Camelia Pasandaran and SP/Mikael Niman, Jakarta Globe, May 17, 2014 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Jakarta. The municipal government of Bekasi, West Java on Friday resealed a mosque belonging to members of the beleaguered Ahmadiyah religious movement after officials noticed the entrance had been unblocked.
“We sealed it again because the lock and seal which were put there had been damaged,” municipal attorney Sugianto said.
The Al-Bismah mosque was closed by the city on Feb. 14, 2013, but its members continued to pray there until Bekasi Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers sealed the entrance on March 8, forcing members who were still inside to use a ladder to climb out.
“They said that they referred to the gubernatorial regulation, Indonesian Ulema Council edict and mayoral regulation that forbid Ahmadiyah, while clearly the regulations only forbid spreading Ahmadiyah teachings and no regulation prohibits activities,” Iman Rahmat Rahmadijaya told the Jakarta Globe at the time.
A month later, the city placed sheet metal around the mosque to thwart worshipers from finding ways in.
In December, a court ordered the city to take down the barricade but said the mosque could remain locked up.
On year ago this month, Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi and local Islamic leaders petitioned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to institute a nationwide ban on the oppressed group.
Thee 400-member mosque was built in 1998 and worship there went smoothly until 2011.
“The troubles started when we got a new mayor in Bekasi, Rahmat Effendi,” Ahmad Maulana, head of security at the mosque, told the Globe in August of 2013. “He used to pray at this mosque before he was elected, even though he’s not an Ahmadi. But after his inauguration, things changed drastically.”
Soon after he was elected, he turned on the small community. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a hard-line group notorious for its vigilantism and violence, began a campaign of its own.
Rahmadijaya told the Globe that the mayor seemed afraid of the FPI.
Meanwhile, Sugianto defended the city’s decision to keep the persistent worshipers out.
“We have locked and shut down the mosque before. The court supported us against Ahmadiyah’s request and asked the Ahmadiyah not to continue activity at this location,” Sugianto said.
Deden Sujana, head of the Ahmadiyah movement in Bekasi, said the government had failed to produce valid documents justifying the closure.
“When asked to show the letters, the government declined to give them [to us], saying that they hadn’t copied them,” he said on Friday. “We want to know whether they have legal standing to do this.”
Throughout the closure, some worshipers have managed to conduct Friday services in the mosque.
“Because it is locked, we climb the 1.5 meter fence to get into the mosque to pray,” Deden said. “There are 362 Ahmadiyah mosques in Indonesia, but only those in Depok and Bekasi are sealed.”
Bekasi and Depok both fall under the jurisdiction of West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan, a member of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). He once said that the Ahmadiyah’s problems would disappear if the group itself disappeared.
Police officers have been watching the mosque around the clock.
“Before the sealing of the mosque on May 11, 2014, members of the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) Pondok Gede branch, Bekasi, intimidated members of Ahmadiyah who prayed in Al-Misbah mosque, and tried to prevent members who were headed to the mosque with words,” local activist Uli Parulian said on Friday, accusing the city of bowing to the whims of the radical group. “We urge the Bekasi government to respect the ongoing appeals process until there’s final and binding decision.”
Jay Boo says
Maybe we could get Obama to speak out about this.
Salah says
“Do they think they will win better treatment for their people if they collaborate with their oppressors?”
Well…kind of!!!
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/02/indonesia-lynching.html
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
This has to be embarrassing to the Administration, with this happening in the President’ s home town, the place of his birth. I wonder what Jay Carney will say. Probably won’t say anything at all. Call me a Birther, but look at that obviously forged birth certificate before you do.
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The Ahmadis might be thought of as the Mormons of Islam: they are a sect with its own messiah. But I’ll take Joseph Smith over Mirza Ahmad; I’ll take a Judeo-Christian over a Moslem any day.
The problem the mainstream Sunnis have with Ahmadiyya is that the breakaway sect believes that Islam can be realized now, that a global Sharia peaceful Islam can be achieved through… peace. This is of course nonsense, and the mainstream Sunnis know it. There are so many threats to give, throats to cut, and entrails to pull out to realize Islamic peace, and the Ahmadis are poseurs who are in reality only present day pussies. A true Moslem must take risks and sacrifice, that is the path to Jannat. There is no easy way to see Islam reach its full flowering.
Nomad says
Wow, how ignorant… Obama was not born in Indonesia.
Jay Boo says
Regardless of where he was actually born these Sunni Muslim thugs could very well be Obama’s childhood pals from Obama’s days studying at the local madrassa or attending a nearby mosque.