 A group campaigning for freedom of worship in Indonesia is planning to report religious affairs minister Maftuh Basyuni to the police for his recent comments about the Ahmadiyah sect.
| The Ahmadis are kind of like the canary in the coal mine of Islam. |
The Alliance of Religious Freedom sent a warning to Maftuh on April 17, demanding he make a public apology for his offensive statement against Ahmadiyah, a small Islamic sect that was declared heretical last year by the Indonesian Ulema Council. The warning, in the form of a letter, was signed by more than 300 people, including Muslim scholars, journalists, artists and activists from non-governmental organizations. It gave the minister a week to apologize to the sect through the media and affirm his commitment to religious pluralism in the country or the alliance threatened legal action.
| Islamists consider Ahmadis heretics because they don't accept Mohammad as the last prophet. Qazi's Jammat-e-Islami hit the big time when they managed to get the Ahmadis declared non-Muslim in Pakland. Bangla has periodic pogroms against them. |
Maftuh was quoted by several national newspapers calling Ahmadiyah a deviant faith, and saying its teachings went against Islam. The minister also said he would issue a new decree to reconfirm the state's recognition of only six faiths -- Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confuscianism.
| No Ahmadis, Bahai, Mormons, Jains, 7th Day Adventists, Jews, Shintos, Wiccans, non-Hindoo polytheists, or members of the Church of the Risen Elvis on that list. Nor does there seem to be a provision for agnosticism or atheism. Nor, I'm thinking, is there any kind of a guarantee that the sects on the list will be there next time it's "updated." |
Moderate Muslim scholar Dawam Rahardjo, who leads the alliance, said the minister had failed to respond to the letter. "Last Tuesday was the deadline. We will report this case to police. We are still discussing the exact time (to do so)," he said. Dawam said his group would also take the case to Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "The minister's action could endanger the president's Cabinet because (Maftuh's) statement was made in his capacity as a state official," Dawam added. He said Maftuh should treat all religions and beliefs in Indonesia equally, and should not have made disparaging statements remarks about any faith. "A (religious) minister must protect all religious believers from discrimination," Dawam added.
| It would be a far, far better thing not to have a religious minister at all. Lots of perfectly civilized nations get along perfectly well without them. |
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