Hindustan Times: When Alex Aan picked up a copy of Karen Armstrong’s Holy War from his local library in west Sumatra in 2005, he had little inkling of his own religious battle to come. But after posting “God doesn’t exist” on Facebook, the soft-spoken civil servant, 30, faces up to […]
Independent: Mist hung low over the jungle surrounding the Borobudur temple in Indonesia as thousands of the country’s Buddhists celebrated the annual Vesak festival. Known to some as the “Buddha’s […]
The Jakarta Post:Cosmopolitan tolerance is now at a crossroad, as seen in the violent acts against minority groups represented exclusively by Ahmadiyah. The public then may ask: Why has violence frequently been targeted at the Ahmadis in a collective level? Why do the Ahmadis tend to be publicly perceived as […]
The Jakarta Globe: Michael Victor Sianipar | Efforts by the government to insert itself more prominently into religious matters, coupled with its unclear stance on the role of religion in the state, will only exacerbate interreligious tensions in the country, leading rights activists warn. Veteran human rights activist Todung Mulya […]
The Jakarta Post: No individuals or organizations — or even old age — can stop Muslim scholar Dawam Rahardjo from spreading the spirit of pluralism. The figure who struggles for the rights of minorities in the world’s most populous Muslim country continues to dedicate himself to the cause and dares […]
Jakarta Post: Nasaruddin Umar : Last Friday an unidentified group attacked an Ahmadiyah congregation in Tasikmalaya, West Java, the latest of hundreds of incidents against the minority group. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma […]
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times / Metro News Banjar: Municipal Government (City Government) of Banjar, West Java, again sealed the Ahmadiyya Masjid Al Istiqomah on Wednesday (25/4) in Kampung Tanjungsukur, District Patamuran. […]
Discourse : ‘I want every citizen in our country to feel at ease’ The Jakarta Post: Nasaruddin Umar Last Friday an unidentified group attacked an Ahmadiyah congregation in Tasikmalaya, West Java, the latest of hundreds of incidents against the minority group. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said the Ahmadiyah community, […]
NU ready to mediate Ahmadiyah conflict One of Indonesia’s largest Islamic groups has condemned the recent attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java, saying that it could act […]
Minority groups in this country need a legal basis to protect their rights Jakarta Post: On the heels of repetitive attacks against minority groups across the country, a high-ranking official […]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta An executive of Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, said that Ahmadiyah sect was still part of the Islamic society despite their different beliefs. Muhammadiyah’s secretary […]
The Jakarta Post, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has won support from interfaith activists with his call for the National Police to take seriously the attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java. He also urged police to bring the perpetrators to justice. Nasaruddin’s statement came as a […]
A long post to start the day, but it’s important that people understand the pervasive Islamist bigotry this innocent minority faces. ———————————————————————- West Java Police have said they’ll be guarding other Ahmadi centres in their infamously intolerant province, but after last week’s vandalism we can only hope they’ll do a […]
Jakarta Post, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has taken a different viewpoint from his superior regarding an attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Friday. Nasaruddin was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the police should take the incident in the Singaparna district seriously, […]
Contrary to popular notion, there seems to be a convergence between the emerging and the established Islamic movements in Indonesia. This could indeed intensify activism in matters pertaining to religiosity in the civil society sphere. Eurasia View: By Vinay Kumar Pathak AN OBSERVER of Islamism in Indonesia recently argued that […]
Indigenous People Want to Have a Say in What’s Happening to Their Lands Tobelo, North Maluku. In an open-air pavilion overlooking the pristine waters off the coast of northern Halmahera, about 150 indigenous people gathered for a forum on their rights over land and natural resources over the weekend. One […]
Jakarta Globe: Women in Indonesia have come a long way since Raden Ajeng Kartini first fought for their emancipation. And as the nation celebrates the birth of this remarkable woman, it is a good time to take stock of just how far we have come. Just over 100 years ago, […]
The Jakarta Post Ahmadiyah followers in a number of places in West Java are on alert after a rumor circulated claiming that the same group that attacked an Ahmadiyah mosque in Singaparna, Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Friday would launch attacks on Ahmadi property in other areas in the province. The […]
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, While sharia bylaws are intended to maintain order in society, their day-to-day implementation is not effective, and in some regions, they frequently trigger social conflict. Wahid Institute executive director Ahmad Suaedy said that even for Muslims, the bylaws could create problems, because not every […]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has played down the suggestion that regional sharia-based bylaws have the potential to trigger social conflicts despite the fact that Indonesia is a multicultural country. The regional autonomy system, which was first introduced 1999, entitles local administrations the right to issuing […]