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 […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Chinese art, dance, movies and music are expected to charm Indonesians in an event called “Experience China”, which kicked off on Tuesday in the capital of the Southeast Asian nation. Organized by China’s State Council Information Office, the event will be held throughout July in the cities […]
Research has shown an estimated 1.4 million child deaths could be prevented each year around the world if babies were properly breast-fed. In Indonesia, where malnutrition rates are high and fewer than a third of babies are exclusively breastfed until they are 6 months old, the government is taking legal […]
The Indonesian government is working on an ambitious plan to create 2.5 million jobs to counter the unemployment that a ban on maids’ employment in Saudi Arabia is likely to cause. It has pledged to spend up to 1.4 trillion rupiah (S$202 million) to equip women with new skills in […]
Indonesia: A success story in Asia and the Pacific If we take a look at the historical perspective, the ties between Indonesia and China date back to ancient times. Some pundits even mentioned that the two countries had actually started their relations since the fifth century. But one thing is […]
In ‘Indonesia’s Religious Freedom Must Be For All,’ Bernhard Platzdasch of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore, writes that a clampdown on the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect brings into focus the larger context of religious freedom and tolerance in today’s Indonesia. Indonesia has since independence proclaimed itself a religiously […]
Three-in-one. Truck bans. Electronic road pricing. With the capital’s traffic woes continuing unabated, the police are now considering a radical new scheme to restrict car use: color. Sr. Comr. Royke Lumowa, the Jakarta Police’s traffic chief, said they were studying a plan to only allow cars of particular colors on […]
A team monitoring the trials of an attack against religious minority group Ahmadiyah said Monday the prosecutor performed below standard. It said many witnesses’ statements were not well-explored during the trials. Wahyu Wagiman, a team member from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), told reporters the prosecutor ignored […]
There’s a downside to jailing Jihadis: They corrupt your prisons. It’s a problem that’s keenly felt in Indonesia, where a decade-long crackdown on extremist groups has dramatically increased the number of radicals in jail. Terror experts have long worried about putting so many convicted terrorists in one place. Now, an […]
Researchers, after analysing new excavations in Indonesia, have claimed that modern humans never co-existed with Homo erectus. The research offers new insights into the nature of human evolution, suggesting a different role for Homo erectus than had been previously thought. The work was conducted by the Solo River Terrace (SoRT) Project, […]