"The root cause of the recent Cikeusik incident was first of all triggered by the society members` dissatisfaction with the government`s weak stance on the Ahmadiyah problem," MUI`s Chairman Sahal Mahfudh said.
Speaking to newsmen after opening the MUI-Central Java chapter`s working meeting here Friday evening, he said MUI had actually issued a fatwa against the misleading Ahmadiyah sect.
"Now, it is up to the government to take any necessary action. It is wrong if MUI has involved too much in the government`s authority," he said.
Sahal Mahfudh said the state`s firm regulation on the Ahmadiyah had firmly been revealed by Law No 1/1965 on the prevention of misuse of and/or religious blasphemy.
The government had also issued a joint decree of three ministers regarding the Ahmadiyah question, he said.
However, as a result of the government`s lenient stance and the lack of firmness to ban this sect, as mandated by Law No 1/1965, several groups of people in the society had lost their patience.
They then made their own decision by punishing the Ahmadiyah followers who were free to propagate their misleading teachings with their own, he said.
A series of attacks on Ahmadiyah religious sect followers and their properties have occurred in some parts of Indonesia over the past two years.
The latest incident happened in Umbulan village Cikeusik subdistrict, Pandeglang district, Banten province, on February 6, in which three people were killed.
In response to the latest incident, Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the cases of sectarian violence could be handled if firm law enforcement was implemented to the perpetrators.
"Don`t let them to remain untouched by the law. If it is so, there will be a feeling that if we kill or destroy properties in a mass, we think that the law cannot touch," he said.(*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
