Betawi unhappy with FPI

Betawi unhappy with FPI

JAKARTA (JP): The Betawi (native Jakarta ethnic group)
Consultative Body, or Bamus Betawi, has joined Muslim
organizations in condemning the violence and anarchic acts
carried out against various entertainment spots by the Islamic
Defenders Front (FPI).

Bamus Betawi chairman Abdul Syukur said on Wednesday that the
vandalism had destroyed people's property and injured others,
which created worries for entrepreneurs in running their
businesses here.

Their acts have also led to clashes with local residents
living in the vicinity of the places being attacked, he added.

The FPI members -- attired in Muslim dress and armed with
sticks and other weapons -- have been raiding and vandalizing
places of entertainment claiming that their targets, including
nightclubs, hotels, and discotheques, were places which
encouraged immoral activities such as gambling, prostitution, and
drug dealing,.

The latest attack took place on a red-light district in
Cikijing, Subang, about 105 kilometers east of here, during which
FPI members forcibly cut the hair of three women, whom they
suspected of being prostitutes, with knives.

"Islam promotes religious tolerance, therefore Muslims are not
allowed to force people of different religions to follow Islamic
teaching," Syukur said. (07)