NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press
Updated 04:14 a.m., Tuesday, August 9, 2011
- In this Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011 photo, children of the members of Ahmadiyah sect who fled their homes following the lynching that killed three of the sect followers in February, play in a safe house in Banten in the outskirt of Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia, a young democratic nation with more Muslims than any other in the world, is often held up an example of religious tolerance, but in recent years religious minorities, from Christians to the Islamic sect, Ahmadiyah, have increasingly been the victims of attacks. Photo: Dita Alangkara / AP
CIKEUSIK, Indonesia (AP) — When Dani bin Misra was released from prison last week after serving just three months for smashing in the skull of a member of a Muslim sect, this conservative Indonesian town let out a triumphant cry.
"He's a hero!" Rasna bin Wildan said of the teenage killer.
The ferociousness of the attack, captured on video and circulated widely on the Internet, guaranteed no one from the Ahmadiyah group would dare set foot in Cikeusik again, the 38-year-old farmer said as others nodded in agreement.
Their reaction is part of a wider wave of intolerance against religious minorities that is challenging Indonesia's image as a beacon of how Islam and liberalism can coexist.
Once the preserve of hard-line preachers, the hatred of Ahmadis now seems to be spreading among ordinary people in pockets of the world's most populous Muslim nation. Whether the government can check this and other intolerance could be key to how Indonesia, home to 240 million people and one of the world's fastest growing economies, evolves in the 21st century.
There are reasons to worry, analysts say.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who relies heavily on Islamic parties for support in parliament, has remained silent as hard-liners shuttered Christian churches, threw Molotov cocktails at one of their theology schools, and attacked worshippers and priests with knives and clubs as they headed to morning prayers.
A string of attacks on the Ahmadiyah — including the torching of mosques and homes — only got worse after a 2008 government decree that said those who follow their practices or proselytize could face up to five years in prison.
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