Home Minister Clarifies Comments, Calls for FPI to Be 'Empowered'
A member of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) outside the US Embassy during a protest in Jakarta. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
The Home Affairs Minister attempted on Tuesday to clarify statements on the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) for which he was widely criticized last week.
"They need to be empowered," Gamawan Fauzi said in Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, according to a release sent by the cabinet secretariat on Tuesday. "And if they engage in violations, they will receive sanctions commensurate with the mistake."
On Oct. 24, during a speech at an urban planning conference, Gamawan had sought to paint the FPI as a potential "national asset" and had urged local officials to foster a more constructive relationship with the hard-line group.
Gamawan was taken to task in many corners of the Indonesian media for advocating that the FPI should be given greater responsibility when the hard-line organization has failed to stamp out violence within its ranks.
The minister instead said that the FPI was officially registered under the government's mass organization legislation, and that it needed to be given a degree of legal protection.
"There are currently some 100,000 mass organizations," Gamawan said. "And if they are not provided with guidance, they will go their own way and conduct a variety of activities."
The Islamist group has gained clout among conservative public officials in regions such as West Java. The FPI, and several affiliated organizations, have been implicated in the destruction of Ahmadiyah mosques, the death of a woman in Central Java and the increasingly successful drive to shutter protestant churches in West Java.
The FPI is also known for dozens of raids against entertainment clubs and alcohol sellers as well as violent altercations with local residents in many regions.
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