AHMADIYAHS SAY THEIR SITUATION REMAINS PRECARIOUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 011921

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SCUL KISL KIRF ID
SUBJECT: AHMADIYAHS SAY THEIR SITUATION REMAINS PRECARIOUS

REF: JAKARTA 7719

Classified By: Poloff Sanjay Ramesh, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: In the face of intimidation by Islamic
fundamentalists, Ahmadiyah leaders characterized their
situation in Indonesia as precarious (Reftel). They noted
that the Ahmadiyah community continues to experience sporadic
acts of violence: in recent months a mob ransacked an
Ahmadiyah mosque near Bogor, while the local police in
Bandung refused permission for a peaceful public meeting to
take place. Community leaders also registered grave concern
over the implementation of Sharia law in local districts
across Indonesia, as the Ahmadiyah interpretation of Sharia
diverges from that of mainstream Islam. Proponents of Sharia
in Indonesia are reportedly in a quandary over its
applicability to the Ahmadiyahs. End Summary.

SPORADIC VIOLENCE CONTINUES
--------------


2. (C) During an initial visit by Poloff, Ahmadiyah spokesman
Mubarik and leader of the Jakarta congregation, Zafrullah
Ahmad Pontoh, portrayed their community as living in constant
apprehension of the next major Anti-Ahmadiyah outburst. They
argued that the Government of Indonesia's (GOI) continuing
inaction against those who had demolished the Ahmadiyah
headquarters in Bogor and the mobs in Lombok that had driven
Ahmadiyah families out of their homes gave a green light to
Muslim radicals and other troublemakers to target the
Ahmadiyahs with impunity (Reftel). In this context, they
listed two recent acts against them: approximately two months
ago, an Ahmadiyah mosque in Bogor was ransacked and
vandalized following Friday prayers while in a second
incident, the local police in Bandung, without any apparent
legal basis, disbanded a peaceful prayer assembly and forced
the gathered Ahmadiyahs to disperse. Ahmadiyah leaders
remain fearful that further such incidents could take place.

WARY OF SUNNI VERSION OF SHARIA LAW
--------------


3. (C) Ahmadiyah leaders also raised the possible application
of Sharia law to their community as a major concern.
Describing Sharia law as "complex" and subject to various
interpretations, they asserted that the Ahmadiyahs have their
own unique take on Sharia. Consequently, they did not want
to see a Sunni version of Sharia imposed on the Ahmadiyah
community. They added that the proponents of Sharia law in
Indonesia - including Islamic parties and/or groups such as
the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Hizb ul Tahrir - faced
a theological quandary over its applicability to the
Ahmadiyah. On the one hand, some adherents of these groups
espoused applying Sharia law to the Ahmadiyah so that they
would be subject to punishments for violating orthodox
Islamic teaching. Other hardcore Islamists objected on the
grounds that applying Sharia law to the Ahmadiyahs would
constitute a tacit admission of their status as Muslims.

UNWILLINGNESS TO CHALLENGE LOCAL DECREES
--------------


4. (SBU) In addition, the Ahmadiyahs say that the central
government has yet to take any kind of stand against local
district heads (bupati) and police who issued joint decrees
banning all Ahmadiyah activity in their districts. Thus far,
five districts - Bogor, Lombok, Garut, Tasikmalaya, and
Cianjur - have implemented such decrees. The Ahmadiyah
leaders claimed that these decrees lacked a legal basis as
the Indonesian constitution specified that the national
government had complete authority over all religious matters.
They described inaction by the Indonesian government as
emboldening other local authorities to pass decrees against
the Ahamdiyas. They also feared that this inaction by the
national government could set a dangerous precedent that
allowed local authorities to appropriate power over religious
matters.


5. (C) Ahmadiyah leaders ascribed the GOI's lack of
attention to the plight of the Ahmadiyahs, not to religious
intolerance, but rather to the government's fear of being
perceived as "pro-Ahmadiyah". They claimed that government
did not have the appetite to risk alienating the majority
mainstream Muslim community, especially as it was already
threatened with a decline in popularity stemming from
economic problems such as high unemployment.


6. (C) Comment: As the Ahmadiyahs continue to experience
sporadic acts of violence, their leaders retain little faith
that the GOI will act to alleviate their plight. They are
correct that the GOI has not yet visibly applied a workable
mechanism to reverse local government decrees that exceed
local officials' authority, notwithstanding announcement of a
review mechanism to be applied by the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
HEFFERN