Subj: Indonesia: Religious Liberty, Polarisation and Danger.

On Monday 9 June 2008, the Indonesian government issued Joint Ministerial Decree Number 199/2008 that imposes restrictions on members of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, banning them from spreading their religious practices and interpretations, on the pretext that they deviate from orthodox Islam. Anyone who violates the ban risks a five-year prison sentence. However, Islamic hardliners from the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) and Hizb’ut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) continue to agitate for a total ban on the sect. (Link 1)

International Herald Tribune reports: “The decision is sure to anger human rights groups and moderate Muslim organisations that promote pluralism in Indonesia. One prominent group of human rights lawyers said they planned to bring the case of Ahmadiyya to the Supreme Court and the constitutional court. ‘The government’s action today, to stop the activity of Ahmadiyya, is clearly against the constitution,’ said Uli Parulian Sihombing, a human rights lawyer who represents minority religions groups. ‘We will be bringing this to court.'” (Link 2)

The Ahmadiyya community refuses to recognise the ministerial decree and has urged its followers to “pray, stay calm and obey ‘existing laws'” while it prepares its legal response. (Link 3)

By this decree, the government is elevating itself to the role of judge, defender and enforcer of orthodoxy, dictating to people what they may legally believe. Furthermore, by siding with the violent rather than protecting the fundamental human rights of the victim, they are declaring loud and clear that violence works. The implications of this decree are profound, and involve not only Islamisation, Talibanisation and religious liberty, but also the unity of Indonesia.

“INDONESIA, THE AHMADIYYA AND RADICAL ISLAM”

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National broadcasts a weekly 30-minute program called “The Religion Report”, hosted by Stephen Crittenden. The subject of the 18 June program was “Indonesia, the Ahmadiyya and radical Islam”.

Crittenden interviewed three experts: 1) Jakarta-based Maya Muchtar, a Muslim woman who chairs the organising committee of the National Integration Movement that advocates for religious pluralism. 2) Professor Merle Ricklefs, who until 2005 was Director of the School of Asian Languages and Societies at Melbourne University. He is now Professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. 3) Bali-based Anand Krishna, the founder and leader of the Anand Ashrams that are centres for study and meditation. He also advocates for Indonesia’s religiously-pluralist constitution and writes for the Jakarta Post.

The program provided detailed and revealing insights into the issues — I highly recommend it. It is available for download as a transcript or audio-file at: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Radio National, “Religion Report”, 18 June 2008 Host: Stephen Crittenden. “Indonesia, the Ahmadiyya and radical Islam” http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2008/2278057.htm

A SUMMARY OF THE EVENTS TO DATE

For decades (even up to two centuries) Indonesia has been undergoing creeping Islamisation and Arabisation. This process escalated through the 1990s (after the Afghan war). Due to this, conservative Islamic bodies have been able to gain a status and power they have not historically had. This is especially true of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI: Indonesia’s most senior body of Islamic clerics).

In July 2005 the MUI issued an 11-point fatwa that, among other things, condemned “religious teachings influenced by pluralism, liberalism and secularism” as being “against Islam”. The Ahmadiyah sect of Islam was specifically singled out as a deviant sect whose followers were to be considered murtad (apostate). As would be expected, persecution by militant Islamists against everything they perceive as being “against Islam” subsequently escalated. Persecution has included church closures, mosque burnings and street violence.

The MUI and various hard-line militant and radical groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front and Hib’ut Tahrir Indonesia have been agitating for the government to ban the Ahmadiyya sect. The government however only equivocates, repeatedly postponing decisions and refusing to make a stand for religious liberty.

On 1 June 2008, Islamic militants violently attacked some 1,500 peaceful religious liberty advocates in Jakarta who had assembled about an hour before their planned event — a parade to celebrate the religious pluralism of Pancasila: the official ideology of religious liberty and pluralism in Indonesia.

On 9 June 2008, the government issued its Joint Ministerial Decree which bans the spreading of non-orthodox interpretations of religion.

FORECAST FOR THE FUTURE

The Ministerial Decree will be challenged in the Constitutional Court, which will doubtless rule that the Ministerial Decree is unconstitutional. This will most certainly extinguish President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s political career whilst igniting the flames of Islamist indignation. Indonesia’s disparate Islamist groups, united by their indignation, may decide to join forces to contest the next elections in the name of Islam. Militants will increase their violence and intimidation.

Greater radicalisation and violence from Islamists will lead to greater social and political polarisation which will increase the likelihood of communal violence.

An Islamised, Talibanised state — if it could be achieved — would lead to the disintegration of Indonesia.

POLARISATION

Regarding the phenomenon of polarisation, Prof. Merle Ricklefs offers an observation: “There certainly are radical characters in Indonesian history but a lot of it is simply very pious people trying to lead a more pious life as they understand it . . .”

And while some of these people do choose to adopt the more “pure” Islam, others, according to Ricklefs, tend to say: “‘Well look, that’s what Islam is and maybe I’m not very interested.’ And just to give you one example: one of the places most subject to religious violence in Indonesia, religious extremism today is in Surakarta, in Central Java, where I’ve done a lot of research work. Surakarta if I remember my statistics correctly, in the early 1970s had something like 15 percent of the population was Christian. Now there’s been a lot of Islamic violence in the streets of course where Abu Bakir Bashir is, where the military school is, and now the percentage of population which is Christian is at least 26 percent. In other words, the opposition created is so great, it isn’t just people say, ‘Well I’m not that kind of Muslim,’ a very substantial number of people say, ‘Well I’m not Muslim at all, I’m going to become Christian instead.’ That’s the most extreme form of polarisation which has been driven, in my view, by religious extremism.”

Prof. Ricklef’s forecast is: “. . . that the use of violence by these [Islamic] groups, the manifest ability of these groups to intimidate government, will first of all lose SBY the election, but also very likely will make a lot of people say this is intolerable and turn them away from Islamic parties. I suspect you’re going to see a lot of social and political polarisation, and polarisation of course is always dangerous in a society, it could easily lead to violence.”

Elizabeth Kendal

Links

1) UPDATE (Indonesia): Decree banning religious group must be revoked Asian Human Rights Commission – Urgent Appeals Programme http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2902/

2) Indonesian officials order Ahmadiyah sect to return to mainstream Islam By Peter Gelling, 9 June 2008 http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/09/asia/10indo.php

3) Indonesia sect mulls legal action against decree. 10 June 2008 http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200806/s2270653.htm

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