Ahmadiyah mosques destroyed in attack<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people in West Java vandalized on Monday night
\nhouses, mosques and cars belonging to members of the Indonesian
\nAhmadiyah Congregation (JAI), a Muslim group whose teachings
\ndiffer from the central tenets of Islam.<\/p>\n
No casualties nor injuries were reported in the attack.<\/p>\n
West Java Police said on Tuesday the vandalism had been
\nlocalized to Campaka district in Cianjur regency, some 100
\nkilometers southeast of Jakarta, which is home to hundreds of
\nAhmadiyah followers.<\/p>\n
The attackers, mostly from the neighborhood and the nearby
\nDarul Rahman Islamic boarding school, destroyed or damaged four
\nmosques, 33 houses and four Islamic schools, and set fire to
\nthree cars.<\/p>\n
The mob of Muslims dispersed after the 90 minute attack at
\naround 9 p.m.<\/p>\n
West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darnadi said the Cianjur
\nPolice had arrested 48 people in relation to the attack.<\/p>\n
Five of them, he said, had been declared suspects. They have
\nbeen identified as Deni Hidayat, 35, Yopi Suhendar, 32, M.
\nYohadi, 35, Dani Hamdani, 27 and Nurdin, 22.<\/p>\n
Darul Rahman boarding school head Muhammad Hardian Nawawi, who
\nis believed to have led the attack, is being questioned by the
\nCianjur Police.<\/p>\n
The attack was the latest against Ahmadiyah, which has been
\nbranded a heretical group by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI)
\nthrough its fatwa issued recently.<\/p>\n
In 1984, the Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a circular
\nto provincial offices across the country, declaring that
\nAhmadiyah was misleading and against Islam.<\/p>\n
The group believes that another prophet, its founder Mirza
\nGhulam Ahmad, came after Muhammad, the last prophet of God in
\nIslam.<\/p>\n
In July, thousands of people attacked the Ahmadiyah compound
\nin Parung, Bogor, West Java, in a protest against the group's
\nteachings.<\/p>\n
The attack was condemned by Muslim organizations and leaders,
\nwho said that faith differences must not be resolved with
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
However, nobody was arrested for the Parung violence.<\/p>\n
Ahmadiyah has existed as an organization since 1953 and now
\nhas about 200,000 members.<\/p>\n
The West Java Police chief said the Cianjur authorities
\nhad been slow to settle the conflict between Ahmadiyah and local
\nresidents, which he said had caused accumulated rage and
\ndestruction.<\/p>\n
West Java Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Ahmad Abdi said
\nthe Cianjur administration had met on Sept. 5 with local
\nresidents and Ahmadiyah leaders.<\/p>\n
During the talks, the Ahmadis had been told to halt their
\nactivities but had ignored the demand.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the MUI's fatwa against Ahmadiyah, the attack was a
\npunishable crime -- and punishment was needed to avoid similar
\nattacks in the future,\" Abdi said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, West Java Governor Danny Setiawan appealed for
\ntolerance and restraint for the course of the police's
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday evening, Ahmadiyah's West Java leader, Abdul
\nWahab, could not be reached for comment.<\/p>",
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