20 arrested in raid on sect<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Penetrating rugged hills in Palu, police on Wednesday arrested 20
\nsuspected members of a shadowy religious sect who were assumed
\nresponsible for the killing of three police officers on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In a massive operation, police also spotted the remains of a
\nsect member near the sect's base in the Gawalise Hills here,
\nbringing the death toll in the incident to five. Another sect
\nmember was found dead on Tuesday after the deadly melee, said
\npolice spokesman Brig. Gen. Sunarko Danu Artanto during a press
\nconference in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The deadly incident on Tuesday morning broke out after police
\ndescended into the sect's neighborhood in the Gawalise Hills,
\nsome 11 kilometers west of Palu, in order to detain the sect
\nleader, Mahdi, for questioning. Mahdi had been reported for
\nallegedly spreading heretical Islamic beliefs.<\/p>\n
However, the 16 police officers met stiff resistance by dozens
\nof Mahdi's followers, who reportedly became hysterical after the
\npolice attempted to apprehend the sect leader. Wielding swords
\nand sickles, sect members attacked the officers. Three policemen
\nand two sect members were left dead as a result of the violence.
\nAlthough 300 police officers had been deployed to the area on
\nWednesday, Mahdi had not yet been arrested, the Associated Press
\nreported.<\/p>\n
At a press conference on Wednesday, police general Sunarko
\nclaimed that officers found a dead baby near the sect's base
\nduring Wednesday's operations. Sect members were apparently
\nattempting to bring the child back to life, Sunarko said.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, with their neighborhood under
\nattack by the police, seven sect members chose to surrender. They
\nsurrendered in Silae subdistrict, some three kilometers from
\nSalena hamlet where the sect's base was located. They were taken
\nto Palu Police Headquarters for questioning.<\/p>\n
The clash between police personnel and sect members stunned
\nmany in Jakarta, with Minister of Religious Affairs Maftuh
\nBasyuni declaring Mahdi's teachings to be \"completely deviant.\"
\nThe grouping was not even considered a sect of Islam as it banned
\nits followers from fasting and from performing daily prayers.
\nAlthough condemning the group, Maftuh did not say whether the
\ngovernment would ban their teachings, merely saying \"the
\ngovernment would direct them to return to the right path.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a cultural activist on Wednesday strongly condemned
\npolice actions against the sect members. Having tried to arrest
\nthe sect leader, the police had violated the basic rights of
\nevery citizen to practice freedom of religion, said Emil Kleden,
\nthe secretary of the Archipelago Customary Alliance (AMAN),
\nquoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
The sect was just one of many similar sects nationwide branded
\nas deviant by mainstream religious leaders, be they Muslim,
\nChristian, Hindu or Buddhist. The mainstream are uneasy with the
\nsects for their potential to disrupt social harmony.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/20-arrested-in-raid-on-sect-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}