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Ahmadiyah mosque closure in Garut raises religious freedom alarm
Authorities in West Java's Garut regency have again forcibly closed a building used by the Ahmadiyah minority community as a place of worship, citing public threats to do so, amid recent reports highlighting the worsening condition of religious freedom in Indonesia.
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Personnel from the Garut Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) seal off a building in the West Java regency that was used by the Ahmadiyah Islamic minority community, in this undated handout photo. (Antara/Handout/Satpol PP Garut)
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recent incident discriminating against the Ahmadiyah minority community in Garut regency, West Java, has sparked concern over worsening situation of freedom of religion and belief in the country.
On Tuesday, a joint team involving the regency’s Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), prosecutors’ office and police sealed a building that had been used as a place of worship by Ahmadiyah followers in Nyalindung kampung of Ngamplang village, Cilawu district.
The Garut administration had first sealed the building in 2021, but local authorities said they had inspected the building following several reports from the public and found that a congregation of the minority religion was using it as a mosque.
“We sealed the building to prevent conflict among [supporting and opposing groups],” Nurrodin, head of the regency’s National and Political Unity Agency (Bakesbangpol), said on Thursday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Maman Suryaman, who chairs the Garut interfaith communication forum, said the parties that reported the building’s reopening and use as a mosque by Ahmadiyah followers had threatened to seal it themselves if authorities did not act swiftly.
The Garut incident was blatant discrimination against the minority group and a “serious violation” of the right to religious freedom, said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid.
“The right of religious freedom is a fundamental right that must be protected by the government without exception,” Usman said in a statement on Thursday.
