The Jakarta Post
Rights activists and religious leaders have urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to dismiss Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali for his frequent statements that could fuel persecution against minority groups in the country.
“Suryadharma doesn’t deserve the post because he has encouraged discrimination against Shiite by saying that the sect is heretical. As a minister, he speaks on behalf of the government, and his statement could be taken to indicate that the government legitimizes violations against Shiite [followers],” said Setara Institute chairman Hendardi on Friday.
Suryadharma, who also chairs the Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP), said after a meeting with the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII overseeing religion, that the Shiite branch of Islam was heretical because it deviated from the main Islamic teachings……….
“The minister has encouraged radicalism. The statement can be used as an excuse by Sunnis, whose form of Islam was introduced by the Wahabbis from Saudi Arabia, to use violence against Shiites,” he said……….
“After an attack on Ahmadis in Cikeusik, Banten, in February last year, we warned that similar actions may be carried out against followers of Shiite and Baha’i because these religious groups are not considered part of mainstream Islam in Indonesia,” he said. Read more
Suryadharma strongly supported country’s controversial Blasphemy law which recognizes only six religions in Indonesia: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. Others are officially banned. It also prohibits alternative interpretations of recognized religions, including Islam.
He said “The consequences [if the law is annulled] are that people, figures, could establish new religions, declare new prophets, new angels,”
In 2008, the government used the law to formally ban Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community in Indonesia.