Indonesia’s Attorney General has banned a controversial Islamic sect from practising in the country. But the government has stopped short of disbanding the Ahmadiyah sect altogether.

The Ahmadiyah sect was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in the 19th century in the Indian state of Punjab, and is now estimated to have more than ten million followers worldwide. They believe their founder to be another prophet of Islam whose mission was to establish a movement that would revitalise their religion.

But mainstream Muslims around the world have strongly rejected Ahmadiyah’s edict and insist that Prophet Muhammad is the final messiah. And for more than 500,000 Ahmadiyah Muslims in Indonesia, those rejections took on greater significance after attorney general Whishnu Subroto banned the religious group form practising in the country.
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JAKARTA Indonesia on Friday warned a Dutch lawmaker not to release an anti-Islam film which could destroy interfaith harmony, the country foreign ministry said here. Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who heads the Freedom Party, will release his short film this month, which he says will depict the Koran as a ‘fascist book’, despite mounting protests and disagreement from the Dutch government.

Indonesian foreign ministry and religious leaders from all religions have opposed the release, saying it could trigger backlash from Muslims. “The Dutch government has failed to convince Wilders not to release the film for the risks of backlash should the film to be released,” spokesman of the ministry Kristianto Legowo told a press conference at the ministry office.

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