Members of an Indonesian minority Islamic sect protested on Thursday against the forced closure of one of their mosques amid concerns over rising religious intolerance in a country which is home to world’s largest Muslim population.
The closure of the Ahmadiyah mosque is the latest in a series of incidents across the country in which religious minorities have faced harassment from hardline Islamic groups, but a rare event in the capital Jakarta.
“This is a slap in the face of the local government of Jakarta because it’s supposed to be a cosmopolitan and pluralistic place,” Bonar Naipospos, director of rights NGO Setara Institute, told Reuters.
Ahmadiyah is one of several religious minorities in Indonesia. Hardline Indonesian Muslims accuse Ahmadiyah and other Muslim minorities of apostasy. [Reuters] Read more
