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In this book, the author deals with an issue that has lamentably marked humankind's religious history. Relying on a wide range of interviews he conducted throughtout Pakistan, Antonio R. Gualtieri relates the tragic experience of members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. Their right to define themselves as Muslims has been denied by the Govt. of Pakistan acting in collusion with orthodox Islamic teachers. Ahmadis have been beaten and murdered. They have been jailed, hounded from jobs and schools, their mosques sealed or vandalized, for professing to be Muslims and following Islamic practices. This book records their testimony of Harassment and persecution resulting from their loyalty to their understanding of God and HIS revelation.
US$4.99 [Order]

Home Worldwide Indonesia February, 2011 Indonesian blasphemy law…
Indonesian blasphemy law sparks Muslim violence in Java
Guardian, UK
News > World News
Indonesian blasphemy law sparks Muslim violence in Java
Riot provoked by ‘lenient’ sentence for Christian who handed out leaflets poking fun at Islamic symbols comes two days after extremist attack on Muslim sect
Bruno Philip
Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 15 February 2011 13.59 GMT
United front ... Indonesians from various religions hold hands in Jakarta as they condemn the recent clashes. Photograph: Bay Ismoyo/Getty
United front … Indonesians from various religions hold hands in Jakarta as they condemn the recent clashes. Photograph: Bay Ismoyo/Getty

Indonesia has been shocked this month by two outbreaks of religious violence on the island of Java, involving Muslim fundamentalists who attacked members of the Muslim Ahmadiyya sect and, in a separate incident, three Christian churches.

On 8 February an angry mob condemned a court in Temanggung for its “lenient” sentence against a Christian convicted of blasphemy. Antonius Banwengan, 58, was arrested last year for handing out a Christian book and leaflets poking fun at some of the most sacred Islamic symbols. The five-year prison sentence for blasphemy, the maximum allowed under Indonesian law for this type of offence, was not enough for the crowd. “Kill him,” chanted more than 1,000 demonstrators who attacked the building and police, threatening the judges and prosecutor, the accused and his counsel.

Muslims account for 80% of the country’s total population of 230 million but the Indonesian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. However, human rights organisations stress that violence against religious minorities has been on the rise.

The riots in Temanggung came two days after another outbreak of violence, also in Java. On 6 February about 1,000 extremists armed with stones and machetes attacked members of the Ahmadiyya community, a Muslim sect founded in India in the 19th century that does not recognise Mohammed as the last prophet and is considered heretical by orthodox Muslims.

Three people were killed and six others seriously injured. A video showing the attack prompted a public outcry. The next day President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was “deeply shocked” by the violence, which erupted just before the start of World Interfaith Harmony Week.

This article originally appeared in Le Monde


© Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
Source:  
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/15/indonesia-blasphemy-sectarian-
violence-philip
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