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Thousands of Ahmadiyah members stranded as authorities ban mass gathering
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Public order officers seal on July 2, 2024 a house of worship belonging to the minority Ahmadiyah community in Ngamplang village in Garut, West Java. The government has declared Ahmadiyah heretical. (Courtesy of/Garut public order agency)
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housands of members of the Ahmadiyah community, including women and children, from across the country have been forced to return to their respective homes after the local administration blocked access to Manislor village in Kuningan, West Java, where they were due to hold a mass religious gathering.
Muslim minority group the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) was initially set to hold its annual gathering called the Jalsah Salanah in Manislor from Friday to Sunday.
But, ahead of the event, a group named the Humanitarian Community Forum, which comprises hardline Islamic organizations the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the 212 Alumni Brotherhood, denounced the Ahmadiyah gathering.
The backlash prompted local authorities, including Kuningan’s acting regent Agus Toyib to ban the event from being held. Security personnel reportedly blocked all access points to Mansilor on Thursday night, preventing attendees from entering the village.
Over 6,000 members of the Ahmadiyyah community coming from outside Mansilor were left stranded due to the blockade, with around 3,000 women and 1,000 children wandering outside the meeting point in the rain.
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“Mothers who brought their kids begged to be allowed to sleep in nearby mosques, but [the local authorities] did not let them,” Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH Bandung) spokesperson Fariz Hamka said in a release on Thursday.
