Asia

Indonesia’s Shiites Remain Stranded

inEfforts by the local government to quell violence against Shiites have hit a standstill in Sampang, local media reported, leaving nearly 200 Shiite Muslims stranded in a local sports centre. A deadly Sunni mob attack sent them fleeing from their homes in late August.

Local Sunnis have refused to allow the Shiites to return to their homes in Karang Gayam village unless they adopt Sunni Muslim teachings, Sampang Disaster Mitigation Agency head Imam Sanusi told the Antara News Agency.

The beleaguered Shiites declined to take what Kompas described as an oath administered by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) of Sampang to “repent and return to teachings that are not misguided”.

The Shiites also protested a government plan to relocate them to a new village, Imam said.

Without a viable solution, 193 Shiites still crowd the Wijaya Kusuma Sports Centre, in Sampang, down from the 282 people who originally sought shelter after a mob of 500 Nahdlatul Ulama members killed two community members in the August attack.

Police arrested five suspects allegedly involved in the attack, which the Religious Affairs Ministry has called a “family conflict”.

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