Rising anger against hardline indonesian vigilante group
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A hardline vigilante group gained public attention for smashing bars and attacking the Home Affairs Ministry last month. Now the tables have been turned; the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has found itself under assault on various fronts.
Last Saturday, members of the Dayak community – some brandishing parangs and spears –stormed the airport tarmac in Palangkaraya in central Kalimantan to prevent FPI leaders from disembarking from a plane to open a branch of the organisation.
Dayak leaders feared the presence of the radical organisation might spark communal tensions in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious province. The four FPI officials on board returned to Jakarta.
Encouraged by this act, several hundred people gathered in Jakarta on Tuesday to call for an FPI-free Indonesia in a demonstration. Four FPI sympathisers were detained after a scuffle with the demonstrators. The demonstrators passed out leaflets and waved placards. One of their signs said: “The only good fascist is a dead fascist.” Another read: “Valentine card for Habib Rizieq” in a reference to the FPI’s leader, known for his opposition to people celebrating Valentine’s Day.
Even a gathering of Islamic scholars in West Java has urged the government to disband the FPI, saying it does not act the way Muslims should – views shared by mass-based Muslim organisations Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, whose members have clashed with the FPI.
Many Indonesians have long objected to the FPI’s thuggish conduct, but the intensity of the current campaign against the group comes as a growing number of people feel the authorities have not done enough to curb the group’s violent deeds for far too long. It signals rising resistance to attempts by radicals like the FPI to control the agenda in a pluralist and secular Indonesia.
The government has been criticised for not doing enough to rein in groups like the FPI, but it also appears to be mindful that sudden moves to outlaw the FPI may ignite a backlash from its thousands of sympathisers that could spark communal conflict, something it is determined to avoid at all costs. It has also preferred dialogue with groups like the FPI in the belief that will prove more constructive over the long run, but it seems that the patience of Indonesians has worn thin.
Observers, however, point to the close relationship the FPI has with sections of the establishment, ever since it was set up in 1998 after the downfall of late strongman Suharto as a pressure group to call for wider implementation of its version of Islamic law. It has gone on to attack minority groups, and foodstalls and nightspots operating during Ramadan.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) noted that the FPI has been closely associated with police and military officers, including one-time presidential candidate and former armed forces commander, General Wiranto.
These individuals may not share the FPI’s goals, but find it useful to have contacts with groups that can mobilise supporters in the streets for various purposes, the ICG added.
