T

wenty Ahmadiyah followers have missed work and school, remaining holed up in the Al-Misbah Mosque in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, since local officials sealed it off on April 4.

The security coordinator for the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation, Deden Sudjana, said on Saturday that the Ahmadis were in good condition and would stay in the mosque until the city administration allowed the followers of the minority Muslim sect to practice their religion and remove the fence sealing the mosque.

However, officials appear unlikely to honor that request.

Deden said that Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi invited the Bekasi Ahmadiyah congregation members to a dialogue on April 11, which he said ended in deadlock and was attended by representatives of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI).

The administration, according to Deden, had agreed to open the mosque only if the Ahmadis removed Islam from their congregation'€™s name or allowed officials to arrange all services at the mosque, including deciding on its imams.

'€œWe refused to agree to the first point because, just like other Muslims, we are Muslims, too,'€ Deden said.

'€œPlease do not decide who will be the imam in our own mosque either.'€

Deden earlier said that the administration justified shutting down the mosque under the terms of a West Java gubernatorial decree and the 2008 joint ministerial decree banning members of Ahmadiyah from propagating their beliefs.

The closure drew anger from groups promoting pluralism and religious freedom, with 200 clerics in Greater Jakarta taking to the street on April 8 to criticize the government for its failure to crack down on religious intolerance.

The clerics in their cassocks, along with the representatives of Shia, Ahmadiyah and practitioners of indigenous faiths, marched from Bung Karno Stadium to the House of Representatives'€™ compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, calling on the government to heed the 1945 Constitution that guarantees religious freedom for minorities.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a lawmaker on House Commission III overseeing law and human rights, met the 20 besieged Ahmadis on Saturday, saying that the Ahmadis had not met their families in 23 days.

The Ahmadis have been given food and water delivered through the fence from their fellow believers, Eva said.

'€œI witnessed how they did it. It was inhumane and I was sad about it, but it was the only thing that they could do for their fellow believers who are fighting for their rights,'€ the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician told The Jakarta Post.

Contacted separately, Hendardi, the chairman of the Setara Institute, which monitors religious freedom in Indonesia, said that Bekasi had a bad record on guaranteeing religious freedom for the Ahmadis and Christians.

'€œThe administration has to protect and enforce religious freedom for minority groups, instead of being one of the actors attacking religious minority groups,'€ Hendardi said. (hrl)