Several thousand Islamic hard-liners protested yesterday in Indonesia’s capital, calling for the banning of a Muslim sect they consider heretical.
A crowd of white-clad woman, children and men chanted, “Disband Ahmadiyah” at the downtown National Monument. Police estimated about 3,000 people participated in the noisy, but peaceful demonstration.
Ahmadiyah was founded at the end of the 19th century in Pakistan, where it is banned, and conservative Muslims claim it was devised by British colonialists to divide Muslims.
PHOTO: AFP
The protest came days after a team of prosecutors, religious scholars and government officials said the sect “had deviated from Islamic principles” and recommended on Wednesday that it be outlawed.
Ahmadiyah, believed to have 200,000 followers in predominantly Muslim Indonesia, has also faced persecution in other Muslim countries. Its followers insist it should be considered part of Islam.
Cholil Ridwan, a cleric, told the crowd at the National Monument that Ahmadiyah recognizes an Indian prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in addition to Prophet Muhammad.
He urged Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to disband the group.
“We call on the government to seize their assets and ask all followers and members to disband and to return to Islam,” he said.
Ahmadiyah spokesman Syamsir Ali said the group will resist attempts to break it up.
The government should not get involved in religious matters and the president should not bend to “the demands of anarchists who merely want to turn this country into a Shariah state,” he said in a telephone interview, referring to a country governed by Islamic law.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose