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‘Pesantren’ heresy claims spark rights concerns
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Hundreds of Muslim students sit reading copies of the Quran at the Ar-Raudhatul Hasanah Islamic boarding school in Medan, North Sumatra, on April 3, 2022. (AFP/Andi)
A
n Islamic school in West Java faces potential closure over allegations of heresy and links to religious separatists, raising concerns about a crackdown on religious freedom that could further muddy a highly political year.
For some time, the Al-Zaytun pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Indramayu has been considered a source of controversy for the local population in West Java.
But a raft of fresh allegations that the school and its leader Panji Gumilang have been promoting heretical teachings and that it could be linked to the breakaway Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement has sparked concerns from rights groups, which have warned about the potential for state overreach and threats to religious freedom.
Halili Hasan, executive director of the Jakarta-based Setara Institute human rights watchdog, said the government's involvement should be limited to the allegations of the school being linked to the separatist group.
“I think the government’s actions must be measured, and it should not get into the heresy controversy. That part of [religious] interpretation should be left to the domain of religious believers,” Halili told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Instead of opening itself up to a charged religious debate, he said, the government should tread carefully and focus on protecting the rights of the students currently enrolled at the pesantren.
“If it is proven that the school is affiliated with the NII, that would mean the students could have been exposed to radical views that are anti-Pancasila and anti-Indonesia.”
