My Academic Works on Ahmadiyya

Book, Journal Article, & Book Chapter

1. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2020. "'It's a Jihad': Justifying Violence towards the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia," TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2020.8
2. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2020. “Torn between Muhammadiyah and Ahmadiyah in Indonesia: Discussing Erfaan Dahlan’s religious affiliation and self-exile,” Indonesia and the Malay World, 48 (140): 60-77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2019.1663678.
3. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2020. "Ahmadiyah and Islamic Revivalism in the 20th Century Java, Indonesia: A Neglected Contribution", in Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia: Discourse and Struggles, eds. Norshahril Saat and Azhar Ibrahim, pp. 199-220. Singapore: ISEAS.
4. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2019. Menemani Minoritas: Paradigma Islam tentang Keberpihakan dan Pembelaan kepada yang Lemah. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
5. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2017. "Melintasi Batas Identitas dan Kesarjanaan: Studi tentang Ahmadiyah di Indonesia". Jurnal Harmoni, Vol. 16, No. 2, h. 254-271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32488/harmoni.v16i2.15
6. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2017. "Menjaga Kerukunan Agama, Menjaga Keutuhan Bangsa", dalam Ahmadiyah di Mata Cendekiawan: Kesaksian Mereka, ed. Ahmad Saifudin Malangyudo. Yogyakarta: Taman Pustaka Arif Rahman Hakim. h. 95-106.
7. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2016. "Fundamentalism and Religious Dissent: The LPPI’s Mission to Eradicate the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia". Indonesia and the Malay World (SOAS). 44(129): 145-164. DOI: 10.1080/13639811.2015.113560
8. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2015. "Sectarian Translation of the Qur’an in Indonesia: The Case of the Ahmadiyya". Al-Jami'ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 53 (2): 251-282. DOI: 10.14421/ajis.2015.532.251-282
9. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2015. “Ormas-ormas Islam di Indonesia: Sejarah dan Karakteristik”, dalam Sejarah Kebudayaan Islam di Indonesia: Institusi dan Gerakan. Jilid 3. Editors: Azyumardi Azra, Taufik Abdullah, dan Jajat Burhanuddin. Jakarta: Direktorat Sejarah dan Nilai Budaya, Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
10. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "Khilafah Ahmadiyah sebagai Satu Model Penerapan Sistem Kekhilafahan di Era Kontemporer", in Komaruddin Hidayat (ed.), Kontroversi Khilafah: Islam, Negara, dan Pancasila. Bandung: Mizan. pp. 113-129
11. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "Conversion to the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia: Winning Hearts through Ethical and Spiritual Appeals". Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia (ISEAS), 29 (3): 657-690. DOI: 10.1355/sj29-3e
12. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "Ahmadiyah Lahore dalam Revivalisme Islam di Indonesia." Ulumul Qur'an  X (1): 41-47.
13. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "Treating minorities with Fatwās: A study of the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia." Contemporary Islam (Springer), 8(3): 285-301. DOI: 10.1007/s11562-013-0275-6.
14. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "The Ahmadiyya and the Study of Comparative Religion in Indonesia: Controversies and Influences". Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 25 (2): 141-158. DOI:10.1080/09596410.2013.864191.
15. "Living as Persecuted People: the Plights of the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia" (in progress).
16. Who Speaks for Islam? The Concept of Heresy in Muslim Tradition (Oxford University Press). (in progress).
17. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2014. "Hating the Ahmadiyya: The Place of Heretics in Contemporary Indonesian Muslim Society." Contemporary Islam (Springer), 8 (2): 133-152. DOI: 10.1007/s11562-014-0295-x
18. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2012. "Tiga Problem Dasar dalam Perlindungan Agama-agama Minoritas di Indonesia." Jurnal MAARIF, 7 (1/Desember): 43-55.
19. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2012. "Pengantar". In Sekuntum hikmah dari maha guru Ahlussunnah, Syi'ah, dan Ahmadiyah, oleh Asrar Mabrur Faza.  

Conference & Workshop 

1. Presenter at the International Workshop on Islam and Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia /The 2nd meeting, ILCAA Joint Research Project “Multi-disciplinary Study on Islam and Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia (The 3rd Term)-Dynamics of Conflict and Co-existence”, organized by TUFS (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies), in Kota Kinabalu Malaysia, 24-25 September 2017.
2. Presenter at The 2nd International Symposium on Religious Literature & Heritage on “Cultivating Religious Culture for Nationalism”, Bogor, 18-21 July 2017. My presentation: "Between Muhammadiyah and Ahmadiyah: Tracing Erfan Dahlan’s Religious Identity"
3. Keynote Speaker in Indonesia Programme Workshop on “The Rise of Religious Intolerance in Contemporary Indonesia,” 25 August 2016, Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta. Organized by: Indonesia Programme, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
4. Workshop on Qur'anic Studies in Contemporary Indonesia, organized by Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (LP2M) UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, September 2, 2015. My paper: "Sectarian Translation of the Qur’an in Indonesia: The Case of the Ahmadiyya"
5. The 20th Anniversary of Studia Islamika Int’l Conference on Southeast Asian Islam: Legacy and New Interpretation, Jakarta, August 14-15, 2014. My paper: “South Asian Channel of Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century Indonesia: The Case of Ahmadiyya”.
6. International Conference on Qur’anic Studies on Grounding the Qur’an: Towards transformative Qur’anic Studies, at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, February 15-16, 2014. Paper: “Sectarian Qur’an: Controversies and Influences of Ahmadiyya Translation of the Qur’an in Indonesia”.
7. The 6th Al-Jami’ah Forum on Plurality and Minority, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, December 6-8, 2013. Paper: “Discriminative regulations on religious minorities in Indonesia.”
8. International conference on Religious diversity and identity: Negotiating state order and civil rights, Gottingen University and UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, November 20-22, 2013. Paper: “Religious rights of ‘heretical’ groups in Indonesia: The case of the Ahmadiyya.” 
9. Seminar and Workshop on Islamic Humanitarianism in Southeast Asia, Organized by the Graduate Program, Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), Dompet Dhuafa (DD), and LAZISMU, June 26-28, 2013. My paper: "Humanitarianism and Heresy: Helping the Oppressed Ahmadis in Mataram and Shi’ite Muslims in Sampang".
10. The 2013 UCLA Indonesian Studies Conference on Critical Histories of Activism: Indonesia’s New Order and its Legacies, April 13-14, 2013. My paper: "From Opposition to Alliance: The LPPI and Its Mission to Eradicate Deviant Sects in Indonesia". Link
11. The 30th Annual Conference of American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) on   Continuity and Change in Islamic Societies, held in Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, on April 5-6, 2013. My paper: "Globalized Discourse on Exclusion and Its Impacts on the Treatment of Ahmadiyya in Indonesia". Link
12. The Conference on Beyond binaries: toward a continuum model of religious normativity, organized by the Graduate Committee for the Study of Religion at the University of Texas, Austin, March 23-24, 2013. My paper: "The Victim of Orthodoxy-Heterodoxy Binary: The Case of Ahmadiyya in Indonesia". Link
13. The 2nd Annual SEA Studies Symposium at the University of Oxford, 9-10 March 2013. My paper: "Hating the Ahmadiyya: The Place of Heretics in Contemporary Indonesian Muslim Society". Link 
14. The AAR (American Academy of Religion) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, November 17-20, 2012. Sacred Space in Asia Group. My paper: 'Sacred Spaces in Qadian and their Roles in the Construction of Ahmadiyya Theology.' Link
15. The International Conference on Minorities in Islam/Muslims as Minorities, at Wake Forest University, Wake Forest, NC, October 19-20, 2012  My paper: 'Treating minorities with Fatwās: A study of the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia.' Link
16. The Conference and Workshop on Militia, Religion and the Legitimation of Violence in Southeast Asia organized by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. My paper: 'Force and Discourse: Militia and Vigilante Groups behind the Persecution of the Ahmadiyya'. Singapore, June 14-15, 2012. Link
17. The UCLA Indonesian Studies Conference 2012 on Indonesia in Global and Transnational Perspective, hosted by Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UCLA. My paper: ‘Arabization and Pakistanization: A Study of the Treatment of the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia.’ Los Angeles, April 27-28, 2012. Link
18. The Santa Barbara Global Studies Conference (SBGSC) on “Crisis,” hosted by the Orfalea Center and the faculty of Global & International Studies at UCSB. My paper: ‘Crisis of Religious Freedom in Indonesia: A Study of Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Minority’. Santa Barbara, February 24-25, 2012. Link
19. The Second-Annual UCSB Islamic Studies Conference on Locating the Sharīʿa: Creating New Sources for Knowledge and Inquiry, hosted by the Department of Religious Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. My paper: ‘Fatwās as a Source to Sustain Orthodoxy: A Study of the Charge of Apostasy to the Ahmadiyya’. Santa Barbara, February 17-19, 2012. Link

Talk & Seminar

1. Presenter at the Book Launch and Discussion on Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia: Discourse and Struggles, P2MB, LIPI, Friday, 6 March 2020. 
2. Speaker at the Seminar on Pancasila and Khilafah, Saturday, 14 December 2019, Hotel Sumber Alam Garut, Jawa Barat. My talk: “Pancasila, Khilafah, dan Ahmadiyah dalam Tata Pemerintahan Modern”. 
3. Presenter in the Halaqah Nasional Ulama dan Cendekiawan, organized by Maarif Institute, PBNU, UKP PIP, UIN Yogyakarta on 16-19 November 2017. My presentation: "Fatwās on the Ahmadiyya: Analyzing the Boundaries of Orthodoxy"
4. Speaker in the ARI - Seminar on "Neither Insider nor Outsider: Crossing Boundaries in the Study of Religious Minorities in Indonesia", Singapore, 24 Aug 2017.
5. Presenter in "Multicultural Day 2016: Managing Diversity, Fostering Harmony". UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, on 7 November 2016. 
6. Public Lecture on "Muslim in Asia (2): Muslim in Indonesia," Aichi University, Nagoya, Japan, 19 April 2016. My presentation: "Religious Minorities in Muslim Majority Country of Indonesia".
7. Presenter in the Discussion on Naskah Akademik RUU PUB, organized by Balitbang dan Diklat Kemenag, Hotel Balairung, Jakarta. 15 December 2015. My presentation: "Pluralitas & Minoritas: Pengalaman Mengkaji Minoritas Agama (Ahmadiyah & Syiah)".
8. Presenter in the Third Australia-Indonesia Dialogue, sponsored by La Trobe University’s Centre for Dialogue and the Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) and supported by the Victorian State Government of Australia, Jakarta, 15-16 October 2014. My presentation: "Managing Religious Diversity, Bridging Divides".
9. Presenter in the Workshop Fakultas Ushuluddin, Dakwah dan Adab, IAIN “Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin” Banten, di Auditorium Lt. III Gd Rektorat IAIN "SMH" Banten, 9 October 2014. My presentation: "Gerakan Radikal Islam: Respon Muslim terhadap Minoritas Keagamaan". 
10. Public Lecture and Bedah Disertasi on Politics of regulating religion: State,civil society and the quest for religious freedom in modern Indonesia, Perpustakaan Sekolah Pascasarjana UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, Thursday, 2 October 2014.
11. Presenter in the 16th PPIM Seminar on "Batas-batas Kebebasan Beragama di Indonesia: Kajian terhadap Sila Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa dalam Pancasila", at Gedung PPIM UIN Jakarta, September 17, 2014.
12. Talk Show at Perspektif Indonesia on “Peta Politik di Senayan Pasca Pemilu 9 April 2014", Gedung DPD RI, Jakarta, Friday, 25 April 2014. My presentation: "Peta Politik di Senayan dalam Kaitannya dengan Kelompok Minoritas".
13. Seminar on GAI (Indonesian Ahmadiyya Movement) and religion in Indonesia, organized by the GAI, Yogyakarta, December 22-24, 2013. Paper: “South Asian Channel of Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century Indonesia: The Case of Ahmadiyya”.
14. Stadium General on Islam and Nation-state, organized by UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, October 26, 2013. Paper: “The limits of religious freedom in Indonesia: Analyzing the first pillar of Pancasila”.
15. Indonesian Fronties of Social Science Symposium, organized by AIPI (Indonesian Academy of Sciences), Lombok, October 17-19, 2013. Paper: “Heresy in social sciences”
16. Stadium General for graduate students of the Department of Theology and Philosophy, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, October 4, 2013. Paper: “Who speak for Islam? The concept of heresy in Muslim society”.
17. A presenter in a seminar organized by Maarif Institute, "Is Indonesia a failed state? Analyzing the of Ahmadiyah in Cikeusik & Transito". Jakarta, July 31, 2012. With Philips Vermonte (CSIS) and Zafrullah Pontoh (Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia). Link
18. A presenter at Gedung DPR-MPR RI Jakarta, organized by DPD RI, July 12, 2012. Topic: "Sosok Alternatif Calon Presiden: Perspective from Minority Groups." With Paulus Yohanes Sumino (DPD RI), Berry Nahdian Furqan (Walhi), and Grace Natalie (Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting). Link 
19. A talk at the Center for Society and Culture (PMB) - the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) on Fatwas against the Ahmadiyya. Jakarta, Friday, June 29, 2012.
20. A talk at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies - Indonesia (CSEAS-I) on the Current Persecution of the Ahmadiyya in Indonesia. Jakarta, June 28, 2012. Link
21. Co-organizer of  Seminar Sehari on "Kritik atas Kebebasan Beragama di Indonesia", PMB LIPI, Friday, September 23, 2005. 

Other Publication

1. Burhani, Ahmad Najib. 2019. "Alhambra, Borobudur, dan Doktrin 'Love for All, Hatred for None'," IBTimes.id, 29 November.  
2. -----. 2019. "Kelompok Minoritas sebagai Kategori Mustadh'afin". Suara Muhammadiyah, 06 / 104 | 16 - 31 Maret 2019 / 9 - 24 rajab 1440. h. 44-45.
3. -----. 2017. "Memahami Kontroversi Ahmadiyah". Geotimes, Jum'at, 24 November.
4. -----. 2017. "Membantah Tuduhan tentang Ibadah Haji Ahmadiyah". Geotimes, 28 July. 
5. -----. 2017. "Pengalaman Seorang Muhammadiyah di Jalsah Salanah Ahmadiyah - Qadian, India". Warta Ahmadiyah, 7 Januari. Link lain
6. -----. 2014. "Isu Minoritas dalam Pilpres 2014". Koran Sindo, 9 Mei.
7. -----. 2013. "Radikalisasi Pancasila di Bidang Agama". Koran Sindo, 3 Oktober.
8. -----. 2013. "Mempertegas Hak Zakat untuk Muallaf". Koran Sindo, 30 Agustus.
9. -----. 2012. "Time to Forgive and Live in Harmony With Ahmadiyah." The Jakarta Globe, September 07.
10. -----. 2012. "Mencari Sosok Calon Pemimpin Alternatif".
11. -----. 2012. "Ramadan di Transito." Seputar Indonesia, Tuesday, August 07.
12. -----. 2012. "Indonesia a Failed State? Fate of The Ahmadis Shows It Could Be." The Jakarta Globe,  August 04. 
13. -----. 2010. "Religious orthodoxy and the blasphemy law". The Jakarta Post | Thu, 03/18/2010 5:00 PM | Opinion
14. -----. 2005. "Ahmadiyah and the vulgarization of Islam." The Jakarta Post, Wed, 07/27/2005 3:30 PM | Opinion.  

Transcript from a talk: Ahmadiyah Lahore dan Revivalisme Islam di Indonesia

Recorded Talk: Ahmadiyah Lahore dan Revivalisme Islam di Indonesia
Interviewed by Madina Online: Ahmad Najib Burhani: “Peran Kerajaan Saudi dalam Kekerasan Keagamaan Bersifat Tak Langsung” (22 July 2015. Reporter: Irwan Amrizal).

Interviewed by Sinar Harapan: Negara Tak Lagi Netral Ketika Terbitkan SKB tentang Ahmadiyah. (Senin, 12 Agustus 2013. Reporter: Melki Pangaribuan) 
Interviewed by Sinar Harapan: Nabi Muhammad SAW Ajarkan Prinsip Demokrasi yang Menghindari Tirani Mayoritas . (Selasa, 6 Agustus 2013. Reporter: Melki Pangaribuan)

Research & Other Activities Related to Ahmadiyah

• Guest Speaker at the 32nd Jalsa Salana, Singapore, 1 December 2019. Title: "Becoming a Friend of the Ahmadiyya".
• Attending the 30th Jalsa Salana Singapore 1-3 December 2017 at 118 Onan rd (Masjid Taha) Singapore 424530 
• Expert witness (saksi ahli) in the Judicial Review of UU No. 1/PNPS/1965, the Constituional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) Republic of Indonesia, Tuesday, 7 November 2017. Paper: "Menjaga Kerukunan Agama, Menjaga Keutuhan Bangsa".
• Participating in the 122nd Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) Qadian, Punjab, India 23 December 2016 - 1 January 2017. The Jalsa itself was organized on 26-28 Dec 2016.
• Participating & giving talk in the International Peace Symposium on "Implementation of Pancasila in Freedom of Religions as Inspiration for the World" organized by PB JAI and Fakultas Sosial & Humaniora UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, 29 October 2016.
• Participating & giving talk in the International Peace Symposium on "Implementation of Tolerance for Humanity and Harmony" organized by PB JAI and Fakultas Ushuluddin & Filsafat UIN Jakarta in the Auditorium Harun Nasution, UIN Jakarta, 30 September 2015.
• Attending & giving talk in the Pengajian Keluarga Ahmadiyah (JAI), Bumi Sangkuring, Bandung, 22 August 2015.
• Attending & giving talk in the haul keluarga Djojosoegito, the founder of GAI (Gerakan Ahmadiyah Indonesia) Perguruan PIRI, Baciro, Yogyaarta, 25 April 2015. Paper: "Minhadjurrahman Djojosoegito and the Revival of Islam in the 20th Century Indonesia".
• Attending & giving talk in the discussion on "Khilafah in Islam", Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta, 21 March 2015.
• Attending & giving talk in the Jalsah Salanah Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI), Gondrong, Cipondoh, Tangerang, Banten, 20 March 2015.
• Attending & giving talk in the monthly meeting, Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) Depok, 15 March 2015.
• Participating & giving talk in the Jalsah Salanah Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI), Hotel Wira Carita, Banten, 19-21 Februari 2015.
• Participating & giving talk in the Jalsah Salanah/ Silaturahmi Keluarga Besar Gerakan Ahmadiyah Indonesia (GAI), Perguruan PIRI, Yogyakarta, 24 Desember 2013.
• Participating in the Peace Symposium & Mulaqat with the caliph of Ahmadiyah, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, in Singapore, 26-28 September 2013. 

-oo0oo-

Indonesia’s Religious Violence: The Reluctance of Reporters to Tell the Story

 ‘In an average Indonesian newsroom, most media workers identify closely with an Islamic and nationalist identity.’

By Andreas Harsono

On Sunday morning, February 6, 2011, about 1,500 men approached a house in Cikeusik village in West Java, about a seven-hour drive from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The villagers were led by Idris bin Mahdani of the Islamist militant Cikeusik Muslim Movement. Twenty members of the Ahmadiyah religious community were inside the house and guarded by police.

"Infidels! Infidels! Police go away!" bin Mahdani shouted at the 30 or so police officers who surrounded the house.

The Cikeusik police chief, Muh Syukur, tried to persuade bin Mahdani not to attack. Bin Mahdani waved him away. As soon as the chief left, bin Mahdani led the mob inside the compound, shouting, "Banish the Ahmadiyah! Banish the Ahmadiyah!"


About 1,500 Islamist villagers attacked the Ahmadiyahs’ house in Cikeusik, West Java, on February 6, 2011.

The Ahmadiyah are a minority sect who identify themselves as Muslims but differ with other Muslims as to whether Muhammad was the "final" monotheist prophet. Many mainstream Muslims perceive the Ahmadiyah as heretics, and their faith is banned in several countries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

An amateur video shows what happened when the mob entered the Ahmadiyah compound. Deden Sujana, the Ahmadiyah's security adviser, confronted bin Mahdani and hit him in the face. This prompted the villagers to start throwing stones. Stepping back, bin Mahdani took out his machete. The Ahmadiyah men used bamboo sticks and stones, but were in no position to stop the large mob. In less than five minutes, the villagers overpowered the sect's men; they caught several of them, ordered them to strip naked, and several villagers beat them brutally with sticks. These beatings can be seen on the video. A teenager took a large stone and smashed the head of an Ahmadiyah man lying on the ground. They also burned the house, two cars, and a motorcycle. Three Ahmadiyah men—Tubagus Chandra, Roni Pasaroni and Warsono—died and five others were seriously injured.

Wielding a machete, Idris bin Mahdani, in dark pants, led the attack against 20 Ahmadiyah in Cikeusik, West Java. Three Ahmadiyah men were killed and five seriously wounded.


Reporting the Attack

By Monday morning word of the attack had reached Java's main cities, and news media published and broadcast stories about it. Jawa Pos, Kompas, Pikiran Rakyat, Republika, and Suara Merdeka, five of the largest newspapers in Java, as well as TV One and MetroTV, Indonesia's most important news channels, used the word bentrokan or "clashing" in describing what happened, leaving the impression that it was a fair fight. The channels broadcast the first part of the amateur video—showing villagers throwing stones—but they did not show the killing.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera, ABC Australia, Associated Press Television Network, BBC and CNN used the verb "attack" in their reporting, and this word helped them place the news story in the context of the rise of Islamist violence in Indonesia. They blurred the brutal video scenes, but they broadcast them. Al Jazeera even broadcast a report on Islamist attacks against Christian churches and Ahmadiyah properties in Indonesia.

Welcome to post-Suharto Indonesia where impunity for violence against religious minorities has fostered larger and more brutal attacks by Islamist militants. According to the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, there have been attacks on more than 430 churches since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004. According to Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia, the national Ahmadiyah association, mobs have attacked Ahmadiyah properties more than 180 times since President Yudhoyono issued a decree in June 2008 restricting the Ahmadiyah's religious activities. More than 80 percent of these attacks took place on Java, the main island of Indonesia. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged Yudhoyono to act against these militants, to rein in religious violence, and revoke the 2008 decree.

On the day the reports about the Cikeusik attack were first broadcast, an Ahmadiyah activist who was meeting with me complained about Metro TV. He had given the Cikeusik footage to Metro TV earlier that day. In their broadcast, this Jakarta channel toned down the atrocities. This activist let me know that his friend, the Ahmadiyah cameraman who had shot the video, had risked his life to record the violence. He felt that the Indonesian public should bear witness to such atrocities, especially since hundreds of Ahmadiyah properties had been damaged.

This video—and the news coverage that resulted—reminded me of another amateur video that showed Indonesian soldiers torturing two West Papuan farmers. It was released in October 2010 and broadcast on international media, but no Indonesian station showed it. The incident had taken place on May 30 when Battalion 753 soldiers arrested Tunaliwor Kiwo and Telangga Gire in West Papua's Puncak Jaya regency. In the 10-minute video, the soldiers are seen kicking Kiwo's face and chest, burning his face with a cigarette, applying burning wood to his penis, and holding a knife to Gire's neck. In testimony videotaped later, Kiwo describes the torture he suffered for two more days before he escaped from the soldiers on June 2. Soldiers also tortured Gire, who was released after his wife and mother intervened.

If Jakarta's mainstream news media think they still play the role of gatekeeper in this Internet age, they should realize how rapidly that role is diminishing. Raw video files of the Cikeusik violence were uploaded quickly onto YouTube. One video went viral; 40,000 viewers watched it in just 24 hours. Some users copied the video from YouTube and uploaded it on their accounts. This digital dimension broadened the reach of news about the Cikeusik attack and prompted the Indonesian police to remove some high-ranking police officers in charge of Pandeglang regency and Banten province, where the violence occurred.

That same week Islamist militants attacked three churches in Temanggung, central Java, injuring nine people, including a Catholic priest. In Bangil, a small town in eastern Java, Sunni militants attacked a Shia school, the largest Shia facility on Java.

Given the frequency of such attacks, the international news media took up the story of Muslim violence in Indonesia. Their coverage shook the image of Indonesia as a "moderate Muslim" country. Scot Marciel, the United States ambassador to Indonesia, issued a statement deploring religious violence and encouraging President Yudhoyono to uphold the rule of law in Indonesia. The message he delivered was in stark contrast to the one that President Barack Obama had given in his Jakarta speech three months earlier when he highly praised Indonesia's "religious tolerance."

Probing Self-Censorship

The question confronting journalists in Indonesia is how to explain what can only be seen as their selective self-censorship on stories involving religious freedom. Recently, Lawrence Pintak, a professor at Washington State University, and Budi Setiyono, with the Pantau Foundation in Indonesia, wrote about the findings from a nationwide survey in which 600 Indonesian journalists were asked about their perceptions of Islam in the context of their work and personal lives. (The paper, "The Mission of Indonesian Journalism: Balancing Democracy, Development, and Islamic Values" appeared in the April 2011 issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics.) No survey of this scale on the topic had been done before.

What this survey revealed offers insights that help get at the question of self-censorship, including these findings:

• In an average Indonesian newsroom, most media workers identify closely with an Islamic and nationalist identity. Asked to complete the sentence, "Above all, I am a(n) …" the primary identity cited by about 40 percent of respondents was "Indonesian" (40.3 percent) and "Muslim" (39.7 percent). Only 12 percent said they were a "journalist" first.
  
• When asked if they supported banning the Ahmadiyah sect, 64 percent of the surveyed journalists said yes.
  

When I saw that figure of 64 percent, it reminded me of a conversation I'd had with a newspaper editor in Jakarta who was a Christian. She told me that she was shocked when her chief editor, a Muslim, told an editorial meeting, "Our policy is to eliminate the Ahmadiyah. We have to get rid of the Ahmadiyah."

Learning this explained why the West Papua and Cikeusik videos were not shown on Indonesian channels. Some of the broadcasters have explained that they didn't want to broadcast the West Papua torture video since it might create a negative impression of Indonesian rule over West Papua. Some contended that they didn't show the Cikeusik video because doing so might have incited violence.

Media Freedom

The Sukarno (1949-1965) and Suharto (1965-1998) dictatorships controlled Indonesia's media through publishing licenses. A newspaper that violated the restrictions would lose its license. According to Pintak and Setiyono, in 1997, near the end of the Suharto rule, about 7,000 journalists worked for fewer than 300 print outlets, the state radio broadcaster, and 11 TV networks owned by Suharto's children or cronies. After Suharto stepped down from power in May 1998, his successor as president, B.J. Habibie, opened up the news media as he lifted restrictions. Today, there are some 30,000 journalists, more than 1,000 print publications, 150 TV stations, and 2,000 radio stations. The report's authors portray it as "a media free-for-all."

Islamist organizations, which were repressed since the early 1960's, also used this media freedom—expanding their own media—to spread their Salafian messages. Their propaganda quickly gained influence in spreading intolerance in Indonesia. The Islamists are also aided by some in the mainstream media. Militant groups such as Laskar Jihad, Front Pembela Islam, Hizbut Tahrir, and Jemaah Islamiyah were established, frequently attacking Christian churches, Ahmadiyah mosques, Buddhist temples, and other minorities.

Local news media near the Cikeusik attack played a role in determining how other reporters would tell this story. They circulated news reports that the Cikeusik violence was fabricated to discredit Indonesian Muslims. At the trial of 12 defendants accused of participating in the Cikeusik attack, Ade Armando, a communication lecturer at the University of Indonesia, testified that journalists from Republika, Voice of Islam, and Anteve twisted a statement by Deden Sujana to make him sound like the provocateur of the attack. He described how news coverage of the event had cast the Ahmadiyah men as aggressors, not victims.

On July 28, the Serang district court found the 12 village men guilty on various charges, including public incitement, illegal possession of sharp weapons, destruction of property, maltreatment of others, individual assault, participating in an assault, and involvement in an attack. None of the defendants were charged with murder or manslaughter. The court sentenced those who were found guilty to between three and six months. Two of the 12, including the teenager who smashed the large stone against a man's head, walked free that day. The reason: time they had already served. The court also found Sujana guilty of inciting the attack and sentenced him to six months in jail.

Bad habits die hard. Lifting controls doesn't always change the way journalists handle themselves. In Java, their bosses encourage self-censorship in an attempt to stay in the good graces of those in power, including the Muslim clerics. Why should they change the way their newsrooms work when they have produced so much money during the Suharto era? Even though it is a free-for-all with government restrictions lifted, journalists continue to use their religious and nationalist reflexes in their newsrooms.

Andreas Harsono, a 2000 Nieman Fellow, is a consultant in Jakarta for the New York-based Human Rights Watch and chairs the board of the Pantau Foundation, which conducted the nationwide survey of Indonesian journalists for Pintak and Setiyono. He was managing editor of the Jakarta-based Pantau magazine, a monthly newspaper about media and journalism.

Retrieved from: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102685/Indonesias-Religious-Violence-The-Reluctance-of-Reporters-to-Tell-the-Story.aspx

Ahmadiyah community faces ongoing discrimination

On October 18, 2011, by Amtul Q Farhat

An interview with Zaenuda Ikhwanul Aziz from the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Community (JAI) published by the Asian Human Rights Commission regarding the situation faced by Ahmadis in Indonesia..

Zaenuda Ikhwanul Aziz, is the secretary of the legal committee of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah congregation (Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia - JAI). He is actively involved in the struggle of the Ahmadiyah in the country.

How do you feel about what is happening to the Ahmadiyah community in Indonesia?

We feel that we are being discriminated against, especially the Ahmadiyah communities at the localities outside the capital of Jakarta. For example, the government does not give identification cards and marriage certificates to Ahmadiyahs.

At the economic sector many Ahmadiyahs have had to change the location of their businesses. Even in some provinces, the people from the community are intimidated not to buy products from Ahmadiyah shops and businesses and this has resulted in a serious reduction of our income.

In the social sector we also are excluded and intimidated. We are not allowed to be involved in social gatherings.

At the religious sector the Minister of Religion prohibits us from conducting the Hajj, (the pilgrimage to Mekka) and even when we pray, members of the local communities attack our mosques. Sometimes, our villages are also attacked.

Also, in the health sector, many people reject Ahmadiyahs as patients. We therefore feel discriminated against in most, if not all, sectors.

When did you start to feel the discrimination?

The discrimination started when the Indonesian Ulama Assembly (Majelis Ulama Indonesia - MUI) declared Ahmadiyah as an errant sect in 1980. This fatwa brought to light the differences between Ahmadiyahs and the community. The people followed the fatwa believing that Ahmadiyah is errant without seeking any further explanation or consideration.

The main actors involved are the Indonesian government, central and local law enforcement authorities and several Ulama members who influence the people to attack Ahmadiyah communities. This is especially so with those persons who live within Ahmadiyah communities.

In your opinion, what is the reason for the increase of the aggression against Ahmadiyahs in the last few years?

There are several reasons, not the least of which is that the government is indecisive about law enforcement. If the joint ministerial decree against JAI still prevailed then the government could not allow the local regulations in the provinces to declare Ahmadiyah as an errant sect. Unfortunately, the government did nothing to prevent this from happening.

The aggressors see Ahmadiyah as a threat because the numbers of Ahmadiyah communities is increasing and they are scared that they will lose their followers.

Also, the content of the joint ministerial decree has been misinterpreted. There are local regulations which use the joint resolution decree to declare Ahmadiyah as errant whereas there is no such statement in the decree itself. The JAI think this happened because the government is trying to distance itself from the joint of resolution decree.

Is the state doing anything to protect the Ahmadiyahs?

We feel the state protection is still minimal. There is still turmoil because there is no law enforcement. It is seldom that perpetrators of violence against Ahmadiyahs are arrested and they are never prosecuted in the courts.

What do you feel about the work of the police?

In general, the work of the police is still far from professional. However, we must acknowledge that in some areas, there are some good police officers working in relation to Ahmadiyahs.


What about the work of the courts?

Judges are deficient at searching for the truth. Their efforts are deficient when examining at a trial, investigating the witness and proof, such as happened at Cisalada trial. Even the verdict against the Ahmadiyah victim was heavier than that of the perpetrators.

What is the Ahmadiyah community doing in their own defence?

Our representatives visit government officials, legal enforcement authorities, and the community in general. Relating to the legal dealings, we entrust this to our legal counsel.

The result of our visits are promising in that there are several communities and authorities who opened up and accepted us such as in Bandung, Central Java, and Wonosobo. But there have also been rejections such as in Cianjur, Bogor.

What is your ultimate goal in this struggle?

All we ask for is the right to live like other citizens and that these rights are fulfilled by the government

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The views shared in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC, and the AHRC takes no responsibility for them.

Retrieved from: http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2011/10/religion/an-intreview-ongoing-ahmadiyyah-discrimination-in-indonesia