ASPIRATIONS FROM TRANSITO
Dwianto Wibowo, Stringer Tempo News Room

Rocks are flying overhead, covering the roof. We hid in the rice fields, saving ourselves. “Ahmadiyah are forbidden to stay in this village!” they shouted fiercely. Houses were looted, destroyed and burned.

This heartbreaking incident took place on February 4, 2006 at Ketapang, Gegerung Village, Lingsar, West Lombok . One hundred and thirty-eight Ahmadis, almost all of them are native of Lombok (Sasak), left the village with their one year old homes burned to the ground.

For the 34 Ahmadi families originating mostly from North and East Lombok, this was not the first time it happened. Such violence and darkness have haunted them for a long time and culminated with the Ketapang incident in 2006 that left a scar on Hafiz Qudratullah, the eldest son of the 38-year old Khairuddin, a refugee from Selong, East Lombok. The then 13 year old boy failed to graduate his class as his marks plummeted. He often daydreamed and shouted “Bad, bad people! Why did you burn my house?”

Hafiz’s family is only one out of the 34 Ahmadi families living in Transito, a transmigration dorm owned by the government of Mataram in the region of Majeluk, West Lombok. For six years they have survived the tiny 2m x 3m booth lining up the hallways of the three dormitory buildings. Seventeen children were born here. In total there are forty; sixteen in the elementary school, six in junior high and one in senior high while the rest are preschoolers.

It is extremely hard for the parents, as told by Ms. Faizah, the mother of Barahin (5). “We strive to keep the morale of our children. Once my son asked, “Mum, why are we like this?” I told him the story of Prophet Muhammad, and it kept his spirit up,” she recalled with a smile. Such courage exhibited by the parents affected the children and kept them going.

Ever since the Ahmadis undergo their ‘new life’, they are stripped of their rights as citizens. They no longer have identity cards, let alone health care and education. Six years after the attack and they are still away from their homes and are forced to live in poor conditions at Transito. They are refugees in their own homeland for an indefinite period of time.

These photos, taken in August and October 2012, feature the aspirations of the Ahmadis’ children, the young generation of Indonesia whose futures are systemically robbed. Could Ahmad, Anggun, Anhar, Barahin, Ridho, Uloh and other Transito kids achieve their dreams when their home country, one that has been independent for 66 years, still allows discrimination and intimidation of her citizens?