Mr Wawan Cerdikwan

Wawan Cerdikwan is a PhD candidate at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University and a senior planner for the Indonesian government's Ministry of National Development Planning /National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). In 2010, he attained his Master of Public Policy from the ANU.

Religious Regulations and Persecution in Contemporary Indonesia (A Case Study of Ahmadiyah)

Persecutors have targeted followers of Ahmadiyah  in Indonesia, especially since 1998. The discrimination and persecution of Ahmadiyah adherents are usually made worse by government legislation. My research question is, "Under what circumstances does religious discrimination against Ahmadiyah adherents occur in Indonesia?" Using qualitative evidence gathered during extensive fieldwork in Depok, Bandung, and Bogor, I found that political competition at the local level through patronage-based and clientelistic networks is a crucial factor underlying  the persecution of Ahmadis. Particularly when running for office, politicians need the mobilising power of mainstream Islamist brokers to boost their support among the general Islamic community and increase their Islamic profile.