T

he Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation (JAI) is calling on the government to restore the rights of its members, who have been living in a shelter for the past seven years, following their eviction by the majority Sunni community in Ketapang, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

Seven years ago, a mob claiming to be members of the Sunni majority attacked and burned houses belonging to the Ahmadis in Ketapang. The Ahmadis were accused of blasphemy and forced to live in rows of purpose-built shacks measuring 2 by 3 meters.

Members of the Ahmadiyah community suffered further after the government bowed to an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) edict, which declared Ahmadiyah a deviant sect, and issued a joint ministerial decree in 2008 banning followers of the sect from publicly performing their faith.

Today, around 120 displaced people are still living in dire conditions, barely able to meet their basic needs.

They are effectively banned from registering for identity cards or birth certificates for their children, which further limits their access to education, health care and other public services.

“It’s been seven years since the attack. We’ve been calling on the government to help our brothers and sisters there since then, but to no avail. Where else should we go for help if the government does not care about us?” JAI spokesman Zafrullah Ahmad Pontoh said on Monday.

Zafrullah also urged the government to prevent the MUI from setting the country’s religious tone and direction.

“We must remember that the MUI is nothing but a mass organization. It’s weird if the government rules the state based on the decisions of a mass organization. So, we hope the government will take back the power from the MUI and uphold the Constitution,” he added.

One of the displaced Ahmadis, Firdaus, said that children suffered most in the camp.

For children who could no longer cope with the situation, Firdaus said members of the community had devised a scheme that would allow them to continue their education elsewhere. “There is no hope for them if they return to school here in West Nusa Tenggara,” he said.

Others who decided to stay consider themselves lucky if they can meet their basic needs.

“Some families don’t even bother to send their kids to school or get free health services from the nearby health center. They only hope for one thing: To be free from more attacks,” Firdaus added.

The NTB Ahmadis are not the only minority group suffering discrimination.

In Sampang, Madura, dozens of Shia followers are living in a shelter following an attack by members of the Sunni majority in August last year.

“We are afraid that these Shiites will face a similar fate as the NTB Ahmadis. The President must do something or these people will suffer even more,” Ismail Hasani of the human rights watchdog, the Setara Institute, said.

Ismail said that discrimination against religious minorities was on the rise in Indonesia, despite claims made by state officials that the country no longer tolerated such discrimination.

Meanwhile, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that members of Christian congregations had also been subjected to discrimination, primarily in the form of being denied permits for their churches.

HRW reports that Reverend Bernard Maukar of the Pentecostal Church in Indonesia (GPDI) in Sumedang, West Java, had been imprisoned after a local court found him guilty of violating local building regulations.

Bagus BT Saragih contributed reporting