"We are going to issue a regional regulation on the ban on the spread of the Ahmadiyah sect because it has misled and instigated tension in the society," Head of Lebak district Mulyadi Jayabaya said.
Speaking to newsmen here Wednesday, he said the incident of the deadly violence in Umbulan village, Cikeusik subdistrict, Pandeglang district recently had shown the local people`s rejection to the Ahmadiyah.
All misleading religious sects, including the Ahmadiyah, were outlawed in Lebak district, he said adding that issuance of the regional regulation on the Ahmadiyah ban was expected to bring peace to his people.
The Ahmadiyah teachings were misleading and deviant because its followers acknowledged another prophet after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he added.
On February 18, a number of Islamic organizations and the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) in Banten had also asked the government to ban the Ahmadiyah sect in the province soon.
"Before the Cikeusik incident on February 6, the MUI had actually urged the provincial government to ban all the activities of the Ahmadiyah sect," MUI-Banten chapter`s chairman KH Aminudin Ibrahim said.
MUI, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah, and Religious Followers` Harmony Forum (FKUB) in Banten Province had agreed to again call on the provincial government to ban all activities of the Ahmadiyah, he said.
The ban could be imposed through a Banten governor`s or provincial government regulation, Ibrahim 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, killing three people.
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 the perpetrators be 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 do anything," he said.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
