July 11, p2

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama has said that he has ordered the South Jakarta Mayor and the Spatial Planning Agency to reopen an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tebet, and that he would promise to help the Ahmadiyah secure permits to keep their mosque open there.

'€œWe respect all kinds of beliefs. So, if they pray and do not bother other people, we have to let them be,'€ he said on Friday, adding that moreover, the Ahmadis had been praying there for years. Ahok said that if the Ahmadis were new people who had suddenly arrived and wanted to pray there, it would be reasonable for the surrounding residents to raise concerns.

But given the long presence of Ahmadis in the area, Ahok questioned the validity and reasonableness of the recent objections. '€œI have heard that they have been praying there since the 1970s, so why now?'€ he asked.

Your comments:

Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama has said that he has ordered the South Jakarta mayor and the Spatial Planning Agency to reopen an Ahmadiyah mosque in Tebet'€! Well done Ahok!

The only brave leader in Indonesia!  The only one who gives orders! When will the mayor of Bogor order the re-opening of the Yasmin church as ordered by the Supreme Court?

Terry McAsee

Well! If Ahmadi believe in one God (Allah) and his last prophet Muhammad and the Koran is a holy book to spend the life on this earth, please let them pray, but please keep an eye if someone is not an agent who wants to create slander.

Godisome

For world peace, there must be complete freedom of religion, from religion and in religion. All must be given the right to practice their religions peacefully within the confines of civil laws.

Let all practice their religions within the confines of civil laws and everything should be fine. Once you start persecuting people, there will be conflict with dire consequences.

Loh Taun

I feel sorry for the guys that sealed the mosque. Allah'€™s punishment will certainly follow.

Rafiq Tschannen

I think '€œBhineka Tunggal Ika'€ (Unity in Diversity) is just a dream that will never come true.

Gencolo

Why does the media persist in saying that they are '€œlocal people'€. It is like it'€™s some kind of spontaneous uprising against a group of people who have been part of the scenery for generations. It'€™s rent-a-mob. You know it, and I know it.

Deedee S

Standing strong on the side of the oppressed to defend their right to worship however their conscience leads them.

As long as they harm no one, bother no one, Ahok should afford them the protection of the law he commands. Schism or heretical ideas are not to be settled by force or persecution. That is for God to decide.

I salute Ahok'€™s commitment to uphold the religious freedom of every Indonesian.

James Waworeoendeng

Therein lies the problem: They don'€™t believe that Muhammad is the final prophet.

They have a new prophet, hence '€œAhmadiyah'€.

They should be free to practice their faith regardless, but it should be noted that they are decidedly not Muslims despite having some similar texts and rituals.

It'€™s like saying that Christians are Jews.

There is an obsession among some people, with defying reality on the basis of self-perception, saying that everything has a relative truth.

Look, if the Koran didn'€™t blatantly say that Muhammad was the last prophet then it would be a total '€œwhatever moment'€.

But it does, and they believe in a new prophet, so they'€™re simply not Muslims.

Dani

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