50 children of poor families circumcised

JAKARTA (JP): At least 50 children from poor families were circumcised on Saturday in conjunction with a commemoration of the ninth anniversary of the Islam Al Muhajirin Foundation in Pondok Pekayon Indah, Bekasi.

The foundation's chairman, Bachtiar, said the mass circumcision, which was held in a cheerful tone, had nothing to do with political campaign activities.

"The event is held in conjunction with school holidays," Bachtiar was quoted by Antara as saying.

Head of the organizing committee, Mulyono, said the circumcisions, which were performed by doctors and 50 students of the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine, were sponsored by a limited number of sponsors, so that the number of boys circumcised was limited.

Actually the number of applicants reached 100, but half of them were turned down, he said.

He explained that it was the first celebration ever conducted by the foundation since its establishment nine years ago.

Besides the circumcisions, the anniversary was also marked with various other children activities, including a competition on the call to prayer, Koran recital and a quiz on religion.