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s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prepares to accept the controversial World Statesman Award, a joint-ministerial meeting on the Ahmadiyah issue on Thursday concluded that a 2008 joint ministerial decree, which bans members of Ahmadiyah from propagating their beliefs, is the key to curbing violence against the community.

Four ministers, Coordinating Peoples Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto attended the meeting on Thursday.

'€œAll elements of the community should work harder to improve the role of provincial, regency and sub-district heads in enforcing compliance of the joint ministerial decree on Ahmadiyah,'€ Agung said after the meeting.

Agung said that to accomplish this, more campaign is needed to educate the public about the decree as well as evaluate the legal status of the Ahmadiyah sect.

Also speaking after the meeting, Suryadharma reiterated his proposal for the Ahmadiyah to split from Islam and its followers declared believers of a new religion.

'€œThey profess the belief that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is their last prophet, while Islam believes Muhammad to be the last prophet,'€ Suryadharma said.

Suryadharma said that such a move could be a win-win solution to a stand-off between the community and mainstream Islam in the country.

'€œIf the Ahmadis opt to declare themselves not part of Islam, it will not cause any problem. But if they want to declare themselves part of Islam, they should take into account mainstream Islamic teachings,'€ Suryadharma said.

Members of the Ahmadiyah community quickly denounced the statement.

An official with the National Ahmadiyah congregation Deden Sudjana said that Suryadharma'€™s statement could incite further violence against his community.

'€œIt is better if we have an internal dialogue about this. The minister'€™s statement could have a huge impact on the public. This statement could easily cause them to attack and even murder us,'€ Deden said.

Deden also said that the government should educate the public regarding the joint ministerial decree.

'€œPeople have never read it. We have never spread our teachings; we just perform five prayers and recite the Koran, as ordered by Allah. Why do they prohibit us from doing these things, which are not regulated in the decree?,'€ Deden said.

Suryadharma also proposed for the resolution of conflicts involving Ahmadis was for them to convert to the '€œright'€ teachings of Islam.

The Religious Affairs Ministry reported on its official website that Suryadharma witnessed 20 Ahmadis reciting two syahadat (confession) at a mosque in Singaparna, Tasikmalaya, on May 21.

The ministry recorded that as many as 712 Ahmadis converted to Sunni Islam between 2007 and 2013. (ogi)