I refer to an article titled "Govt urged to respect Ahmadiyah rights," (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 15)

Members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim community are renowned the world over for their attachment to peace. They are taught from their infancy that they must be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.

Their motto is: Love for all, hatred for none. They believe that faith devoid of good deeds and service of God's creation is no faith at all. Thus, in every society where the Ahmadis are found, the communities bear witness to their unblemished record of peaceful, law-abiding nature and can show the good works they are involved in to improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged members of the society.

The Ahmadiyah Muslim community has now built some 15,500 mosques, more than 500 schools and 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Koran into 60 languages.

It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four-hour satellite television channel (MTA), the Internet - www.alislam.org - and print (Islam International Publications).

It has been at the forefront of disaster relief in the United States and worldwide through an independent charitable organization, Humanity First - www.humanityfirst.org. It is strange that such totally harmless, indeed beneficial members of society should be made the target of attacks.

What is more alarming is that the authorities should need to be convinced to step in to protect them, and apprehend and punish those who commit crimes against such law-abiding citizens.

If the government will not protect law-abiding, peace-loving citizens, who will they protect? Those who take the law into their own hands?

That would be the beginning of a very sad chapter in the history of Indonesia indeed!

Waseem Sayed
Chino Hills, California

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