Activists: Minister Suryadharma Flouts Constitution
A sign by the Bekasi city administration saying Ahmadiyah activities are banned. (JG Photo/Camelia Pasandaran)
Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has once again come under fire for religious intolerance after suggesting that minor religious sects, including Ahmadiyah, should disband themselves.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation lashed out at Suryadharma, saying that a minister should not publicly contradict the constitution.
"As a minister who has responsibility for upholding the constitution, he is ruining its mandates and values. The minister of religious affairs should understand the principle of unity in diversity, so that his statements don't offend anyone when he addresses a national problem," Alvon Kurnia Palma of the foundation known as YLBHI said in a press release on Thursday.
Suryadharma, from the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), made the provocative statement while attending an interfaith dialogue in Semarang, Central Java, recently.
During the dialogue, Suryadharma said that the emergence of new faiths or religions was the cause of religious intolerance.
"A religion that looks similar [to Islam] but is clearly not the same has prompted anger from some believers, especially Muslims who are the majority. It eventually creates horizontal conflict, an unfavorable situation not only for the followers of both religions but also for the people who live around the conflict area," said Suryadharma.
The minister said that the most effective solution for the "Ahmadiyah problem" was to disband the sect, or to declare Ahmadiyah a new religion that should not cite the symbols or principles of Islam. "In Malaysia, that religion has been banned. In Pakistan, Ahmadiyah is considered a non-Islam minority religion," said Suryadharma.
Alvon said that the Constitution states that every citizen is free to embrace and perform prayers according to their religion, and that the law on human rights also stipulates that the government is obliged to respect, protect, enforce and prioritize the right to freedom of belief.
YLBHI called on Suryadharma to retract his statement about the disbandment of Ahmadiyah.
Indonesia has a dark history of intolerance over religious beliefs.
Between 2007 and 2012, there were an annual average of 216 recorded cases of acts of religious intolerance, while the first half of this year has seen 122 cases spread over 16 provinces, according to data from rights group the Setara Institute.
Alvon said that the religious affairs minister needed to understand that Indonesia's constitution is founded on the rule of law. He said that the law does not permit the forced disbandment of groups such as Ahmadiyah, which is a legal grouping whose members are entitled to pray according to their beliefs.
He added that many groups were ready to defend Ahmadiyah in the name of preventing religious discrimination.
The rights lawyer also urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was awarded the 2013 World Statesman award for upholding religious tolerance, along with his cabinet, to respect the principles of diversity including religious tolerance.
Said Aqil Sirodj, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, one of the two largest Islamic organizations in the country, described Suryadharma's anti-Ahmadiyah statement as partisan.
"It's political — maybe it's because he's a politician," Said said.
The NU chief said he regretted that such a statement came from the religious affairs minister. "What else do you want to do with Ahmadiyah? They are our brothers, fellow countrymen," he said.
Said underlined that everyone born or living in Indonesia is equal in position and rights, which need to be respected as long as they don't break the law.
He called on the country's Muslims to take a milder approach. "Our responsibility is to convey our messages in such a manner that people will return to the right way," he said.
Benny Susetyo of the Setara Institute agreed that Suryadharma was violating the constitution by his statement that sought to encourage the disbanding of Ahmadiyah.
Benny, who is also the secretary general of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI), said that the minister should have known better.
"Minister Suryadharma Ali as the religious affairs minister should comply with the constitution, show commitment to carry out the constitution because that's the foundation of our country," said Benny.
Benny added that Suryadharma's statement showed that he was prioritizing the interests of the PPP rather than carrying out the government's policies.
"This is what happens when you pick ministers from political parties. They will prioritize their parties' interests rather than carrying out the central government's policies. It's true that none of these ministers are statesmen, they are party officials," he said.
In September, Coordinating Minister of Security, Political and Legal Affairs Djoko Suyanto said that the government had no plans to disband the Ahmadiyah congregation in Bekasi, despite a request from the municipality.
"The government's position is to uphold the constitution, which guarantees religious freedom and freedom to one's own beliefs," Djoko told the Jakarta Globe. "There must not be any coercion or violence by anyone toward anyone else."
Djoko said that the government would uphold a joint ministerial decree to preserve religious tolerance.
In a letter dated July 26, the Bekasi municipality requested that President Yudhoyono disband the local Ahmadiyah congregation. If the denomination were to be allowed, the letter asked that Yudhoyono reclassify it by presidential decree as an accepted religion other than Islam.
Cases of religious intolerance in the country have caught the eye of international watchdog groups, and many minorities here face discrimination in the practice of their beliefs and the construction of places of worship. Such groups include the Ahmadiyah, Shi'ites in Madura, the embattled church of GKI Yasmin and others.
The right not to believe is also under attack. Last year, Alexander Aan, 32, a Minang civil servant, was sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment and a Rp 100 million ($10,600) fine for blasphemy after he declared himself an atheist on Facebook.
The most prominent recent case of state-sponsored religious intolerance came last week when Shi'ite Muslims in West Java were forced by police to abandon a ceremony to commemorate the Ashura holiday
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