Indonesian authorities suspect a suicide bomber who attacked a church on Sunday may have been involved in a previous bombing at a mosque in April. Police Monday were awaiting the results of DNA testing on the remains of the bomber, who injured 27 people, many critically, at a church in […]
Solo, Indonesia — At least one person was killed Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked an Indonesian church, officials said, the latest sectarian incident to hit the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. “I can confirm that there was a suicide bomb attack in Church Bethel Injil at 10:55,” Central Java […]
An Australian human rights researcher detained by Indonesian authorities on Monday remains in detention awaiting what is likely to be her imminent deportation. The researcher and Human Rights Watch activist Andreas Harsono were taken into custody by police in Sampang, East Java, as they attempted to investigate the local Shia […]
Jakarta Globe: The country’s military commander warned on Sunday against anyone going to Ambon to wage jihad, echoing a call by the country’s highest Islamic authority following deadly clashes there last week. Speaking in Jakarta at an event to mark the 66th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI), Adm. Agus […]
House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Friday that cabinet members practicing polygamy should not be replaced by the president just because of their personal lives. “Please don’t reshuffle the cabinet just because [a minister] has two wives. ” Marzuki said. “As long as it does not violate Shariah […]
Toll in Indonesia sectarian clash rises to seven Hundreds of police have brought calm to Indonesia’s eastern Maluku province following Sunday’s violent Muslim-Christian clashes that left three dead and more than 80 injured. The incident, apparently sparked by a simple traffic accident, called attention to a region still recovering from […]
The Jakarta Post For the past decade the people of Ambon and the entire province of Maluku have been licking their wounds from a bloody sectarian conflict that sociologists said was a test of the country’s pluralism. So when riots erupted anew in this peaceful town on Sunday, claiming three […]
Hundreds of police officers were deployed from Makassar to Ambon to help quell a riot that erupted over the death of a man, a police spokesman said on Sunday. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said police in Ambon were overwhelmed by the scale of the clash that left at least three dead and […]
Source/Credit: Leicester Mercury By Ibrahim Bonsu Once again the Indonesian government have shown that members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Indonesia are not entitled to be accorded the same justice enjoyed by other citizens. On February 6, three members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pandeglang, Banten Province, were […]
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Most Indonesians insist on rejecting any form of religiously motivated violence and are worried that recent violent incidents against certain minority religious groups threaten Indonesia’s reputation as a tolerant nation, a survey concluded. Setara chairman Hendardi said that 47.9 percent of the survey respondents […]
Indonesia sect fears more attacks Three members of the Ahmadiyah, a minority sect, were slain by Islamic hard-liners in February. Ahmadis fear the attackers’ light sentences signal tacit government acceptance of religious violence. Nurhayati, a member of the Ahmadiyah, a minority Islamic sect, and her child are among those seeking […]
Tyler Gnietwotta and Yohanna Ririhena, The Jakarta Post, Sometimes a phrase can be much more than just words and can find its way into everyday use in all aspects of life. This holds true with the Indonesian saying ‘from tragedy to opportunity’ as the nation overcame obstacles faced in the […]
Tom Allard Jakarta Ulil Abshar Abdalla is a Harvard-educated Islamic reformer, an adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and one of Indonesia’s most perceptive intellectuals. Ask him about what has happened to Islam in Indonesia since the September 11 attacks, and he says: ”I think there has been a trend […]
Most Indonesians oppose the use of violence against the minority Muslim sect Ahmadiyah and think its followers here are their compatriots and should not be facing oppression, a survey by a human rights watchdog showed on Thursday. Many respondents also said the deadly February attack in Cikeusik, Banten, occured because the government […]
In the Footsteps of Their Father, Gus Dur When former President Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid passed away on Dec. 30, 2009, his youngest daughter, Inayah Wulandari Rahman, was by his side. His death came just one day before her 27th birthday. “It’s a heartbreaking moment when celebrations of life and […]
Jakarta Globe Indonesia’s justice system, like any other nation’s, is a work in progress. We cannot dispute that great progress has been made over the past few years in terms of law enforcement and independence of the courts. The police, for example, are more proactive and responsive in maintaining public […]
Jakarta Globe: Lydia Tomkiw Historian Michael Laffan’s new book explores the influences of trade, travel and traditions on the spread of Islam in Indonesia. Historian, author and professor Michael Laffan studied Indonesian in high school in Australia before going on to study Arabic in college. Laffan wanted to connect the […]
WikiLeaks’ Asian Field Day In Indonesia, the national police are discovered to be using a hard-line Islamic group as its hidden “attack dog.” In Indonesia, octogenarian Singaporean founder Lee Kuan Yew calls Islam a “venomous religion. In Malaysia, UMNO leaders are “willing to blacken Malaysia’s reputation to ensure the end […]
Authorities are placating extremists, writes Tom Allard in Indonesia. Ulil Abshar Abdalla is one of Indonesia’s most perceptive intellectuals, a Harvard-educated Islamic reformer and an adviser to the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. When asked what has happened to Islam in Indonesia since the September 11 attacks, he says: ”I think […]
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The National Command Post for Idul Fitri reported that hundreds of people died in road accidents related to the annual homecoming exodus. “According to data from the police traffic corps, 433 people died in road accidents,” National Command Post head Hotma Simanjuntak said as quoted by […]