Indonesia celebrated for diversity, as minority faiths discriminated against

From People of Shambhala.

Soldiers file past a burned out Ahmadiyah mosque in Java, Indonesia.

Indonesia is often heralded for its pluralism by Western leaders as a nation showing other Muslim-majority states how to do moderate Islam. It is, we are told, a land of peace and pluralism. One pundit, in today’s Jakarta Globe says otherwise.

Calvin Michel Sidjaja, a researcher for HD Asia Advisory in Jakarta, calls Indonesia’s pluralism “questionable.”

Sidjaja alleges that religious violence has increased due to bias at Government levels. The Religious Affairs Ministry, he says, “has been traditionally slanted to favor Muslims. The Religious Affairs Minister openly stated his preference for disbanding Ahmadiyah in August 2010.”The Jakarta Post reported in 2011 that at least 26 regencies and municipalities had “passed bylaws restricting or banning the… read more.

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