By Kenneth Conboy
Due to pressure from radical Islamic groups, the South Sumatra provincial government officially banned the Ahmadiyah sect on 1 September. They are the second province after West Sumatra to impose such a ban.
Earlier, several hard-line Muslim organizations under the Islamic People's Forum, such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, the Islamic Defender's Front, and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, demanded the dissolution of Ahmadiyah due to its heretical teachings that its founder, Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet after Mohammad.
The South Sumatra ban is set to affect an estimated 600 Ahmadiyah followers. There are nine Ahmadiyah mosques in the province.
Monday's ban is yet the latest in a series of government decisions seen as appeasing Muslim radicals ahead of next year's national elections. One of the most glaring waffles has been the continued delays in carrying out the death sentence against three of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali bombings. The bombers have lost all of their legal appeals, and the government had earlier stated that the three would face a firing squad before the onset of this year's Ramadhan. But as the fasting month started yesterday, this window has obviously been missed, leaving many to wonder whether the current Indonesian administration does not want to risk being perceived as bowing to Western pressure ahead of their 2009 polls.
Due to pressure from radical Islamic groups, the South Sumatra provincial government officially banned the Ahmadiyah sect on 1 September. They are the second province after West Sumatra to impose such a ban.
Earlier, several hard-line Muslim organizations under the Islamic People's Forum, such as Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, the Islamic Defender's Front, and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, demanded the dissolution of Ahmadiyah due to its heretical teachings that its founder, Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet after Mohammad.
The South Sumatra ban is set to affect an estimated 600 Ahmadiyah followers. There are nine Ahmadiyah mosques in the province.
Monday's ban is yet the latest in a series of government decisions seen as appeasing Muslim radicals ahead of next year's national elections. One of the most glaring waffles has been the continued delays in carrying out the death sentence against three of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali bombings. The bombers have lost all of their legal appeals, and the government had earlier stated that the three would face a firing squad before the onset of this year's Ramadhan. But as the fasting month started yesterday, this window has obviously been missed, leaving many to wonder whether the current Indonesian administration does not want to risk being perceived as bowing to Western pressure ahead of their 2009 polls.
Source: Counterterrorism Blog
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