by NIVELL RAYDA
Pandeglang, Banten. Just last week, hardly anyone had ever heard of Umbulan village in the Cikeusik subdistrict of Pandeglang – except for a few firebrand clerics. But after the bloody attack here against members of the Ahmadiyah sect on Sunday, which saw three people killed and five others badly injured, the nation has been fixated on news from the village.
‘Halal Blood’
Zulkifli, a 21-year-old resident of nearby Malingping town, said he first heard of the little-known village during the anniversary of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) last August.
“The anniversary was celebrated here [in Malingping]. FPI paraded through the city and staged a mass sermon,” he said, pointing to a nearby field.
Zulkifli recounted seeing public officials and senior police officers among the crowd, numbering around 1,000.
“It is halal for the blood of an Ahmadi to be spilled,” he quoted a local cleric named Madzuri, who led the sermon, as saying. “I have received instructions from our leader, Habib Rizieq. Ahmadiyah must be driven out of Banten,” the cleric added.
His words were met with thunderous applause, Zulkifli said. The cleric was referring to FPI leader Rizieq Shihab, who was sentenced for leading an attack against a religious tolerance group in 2008.
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