Ahmadiyah onslaught hardest test for RI democracy Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Canberra Indonesians used to glowing

praise over the countrys democratization were abruptl y shamed with scenes of Februarys mob attack and brutal killing of three Ahmadis in Cikeusik, West Java, projected in the first session of annual talks on Indone sia in Canberra on Friday. Although the mob assault was acknowledged as an extreme exception, speaker Greg Fealy said it reflected one of the hardest tests for Indonesian democracy. Even though Ahmadis were the least-liked of Indonesias minorities, with no one imp ortant defending them, in part given their exclusivity, Fealy said they were enti tled to state protection guaranteed by the Constitution, more so because of the hostility against them. He noted that the government was under pressure to ban the Ahmadiyah sect, who a re regarded as un-Muslim by other Muslims, because they do not regard the Prophe t Muhammad as the final prophet. Fealy was addressing Indonesian Update 2011 at the Australian National Universit y, after Chancellor and former foreign minister Gareth Evans had lauded Indonesi a as a talismanic example to the rest of the Muslim world. Fealy, among the most renowned scholars on Islam in Indonesia, cited the inciden t as one of the indicators of Indonesias regression, along with the dwindling anticorruption drive and declining trust in elections and political parties. The absence of the rule of law and mixed signals from the state regarding the at tack had all resulted in the immunity of emboldened sectarian vigilantes. Western leaders must pay more attention to this issue, Fealy said. He noted how Jakarta seemed to endorse bylaws in several regencies that have ban ned Ahmadiyah in their areas, despite the decentralization law clearly stating t hat religious affairs are an authority of the central government. Fealy noted how the attackers became the victims, with Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar stating that the assault and murder may not have been a human rights violation. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who has bee n among many pushing for the state ban on Ahmadis, asserted that they were not M uslim. Fealy compared the due process against the attackers to protesters who had broug ht a buffalo to a rally with SBY painted on its body. Students were immediately ar rested. It seems insulting the President is more important than murder, Fealy said. Arrests were made only after an outrage, Fealy said. The recent verdict on the 11 attackers and one Ahmadi, their security chief, gave the latter, Deden Sujana, t he sentences of between three and six months imprisonment, for provoking the attack that resulted in the death of three Ahmadis after being stabbed and tortured. Douglas Ramage of AusAID, Australias aid agency, and another scholar on Indonesia , said the main factor constraining Indonesias progress was the weakening of its oversight institutions in recent years. Yudhoyonos leadership, he added, reflected extreme inclusiveness and consensus, Ram age said. This guarantees stability but showed a failure of Yudhoyonos leadership for reform, ceding space for others to roll back reformasi.

Copyright 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved Source: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/09/30/ahmadiyah-onslaughthardest-test-ri-democracy.html