JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) — Indonesian National Police on Saturday officially announced the arrest of the principal of the Umar Bin Khatab (UBK) Islamic boarding school, where a bomb blast two weeks ago killed one person, and named him a terror suspect. National Police Spokesman Brigadier General Ketut Untung Yoga […]
An interview with Zaenuda Ikhwanul Aziz from the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Community (JAI) published by the Asian Human Rights Commission regarding the situation faced by Ahmadis in Indonesia.. How do you feel about what is happening to the Ahmadiyah community in Indonesia? We feel that we are being discriminated against, especially […]
Bali Island, Indonesia – US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton should use her visit to Indonesia this week to press Jakarta to address human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. The United States last year lifted a ban on cooperation with Indonesia’s army special forces, known as Kopassus, which was […]
The couples joining the mass wedding were of various ethnics and religion. The youngest couple was aged 16, while the oldest was 86. JAKARTA – INDONESIA broke the world record for mass weddings when 4,501 couples got married at the Sports Palace of Senayan in Jakarta, local media reported on […]
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has praised the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), for its commitment in supporting pluralism. “I praise the NU’s consistency in upholding the four pillars of our society, namely Pancasila [five principles], the 1945 constitution, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [unity in diversity], and the Unitary State […]
Being a minority of about 10 in a predominantly Muslim country of almost 250 million people is truly being a minority. My National Identity Card lists me as a Christian, since every citizen is required to profess one of six prescribed religions by law – none of which is Judaism. […]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Forestry Ministry will dispatch 5,000 Muslim preachers in its latest move to campaign against forest destruction, citing the rampant case of illegal logging involving local communities. “Our forests don’t go up in flames on their own, but are intentionally burned because there is this tradition […]
The Jakarta Post | Jajang Jahroni’s article (The Jakarta Post, p. 6) on Friday, July 8, about bringing the ulema back in is thought-provoking. What caught my attention was the sentence: “This is the reason why democratization in many Muslim countries is so poor.” The problem outlined: When ulemas have […]
Source: International business Times: An unknown number of Indonesians were photographed voluntarily laying down on railway tracks- not to protest anything, or because of a death wish, but because they believe that the electrical current from the tracks can cure a number of ailments. Residents of all ages – […]
Source: Jakarta Post Indonesian and Mali envoys took on the US congress on Thursday to showcase that democracy is alive and functioning in their Muslim-majority nations, defying the widely held view in the West, and in some quarters in the Muslim world, that Islam and democracy clashed with one another. […]
Source: Khaleej Times Indonesia on Friday arrested a principal of an Islamic boarding school suspected of being a bomb factory, following an explosion inside the campus that killed a man earlier this week, police said. Identified only as Abrori, the teacher was detained at his parents’ house in Bolo sub-district […]
Migrant worker Darsem says she is not worried about the idea of working abroad again, following an ordeal that saw her rescued from Saudi Arabia where she was facing the death penalty for killing a man who tried to rape her. “I would not say I feel apprehensive, but I […]
By Testriono, The Daily Star Recent cases of religious intolerance in Indonesia have led some observers to worry that U.S. President Barack Obama’s praise of religious tolerance in Indonesia during his visit in November 2010 was exaggerated. Public statements and decrees from Indonesian government officials have discredited religious minority groups […]
The vast majority of young Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia appear to disapprove of the traditional acceptance of polygamy but remain reluctant to openly support interfaith marriages or premarital sex, a new survey shows. In the survey coordinated by two German-based cultural organizations, 86.5 percent of 1,496 Indonesians interviewed and 72.7 percent […]
A protest in Bogor that had been expected to turn violent remained civil on Sunday as a group of people in the mostly Muslim community voiced opposition to the Yasmin church congregation holding services on a sidewalk outside of its sealed-off church. Global rights group Amnesty International earlier reported that […]
A group of Indonesian climbers successfully reached the summit of Alaska’s Mount McKinley on Thursday, completing their goal of reaching the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. The ascent of the 6,194-meter-high McKinley, also known as Denali, makes the four climbers from Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung — […]
Indonesia has been urged to repeal its blasphemy laws and provide greater protection to religious minorities – including Christians and the Muslim Ahmadiyya sect – in order to safeguard its reputation as one of the world’s most progressive and tolerant Muslim-majority countries. “If extremists are allowed to continue to terrorise religious minorities with impunity, […]
New Malden, United Kingdom, July 8 (ENInews)–The European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights in Indonesia on 7 July, making reference to attacks on religious minorities such as Christians and the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, according to a news release from Christian Solidarity Worldwide. The move by the European Parliament […]
Prosecutors entered relatively light sentencing demands on Thursday for 10 participants believed to have roles in the deadly mob attack on a group of Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, Banten, earlier this year. The defendants, charged with crimes ranging from provoking violence to assault, received sentence demands in the five […]
The modern world has embraced the 21st century movement toward digital and social media with fervent gusto. Facebook accounts have become an integral part of today’s social scene, physical resources like music and books are transferred by the click of a button and seemingly any piece of information can be accessed through […]