Police told to put a stop to racism

Police told to put a stop to racism

JAKARTA: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered a police crackdown on people who are increasingly using their cellular phones to send racist text messages, his spokesman said.

According to earlier media reports, there have been a growing number of SMS messages encouraging violence against Chinese- Indonesians. The messages say the ethnic Chinese are to blame for the country's economic problems.

Susilo has asked the chiefs of intelligence and police in the world's most populous Muslim nation to put a stop to the hate- mongering, said his spokesman Andi Mallarangeng.

"He is worried such messages will disturb religious harmony," Andi said in a reference to the fact that Chinese-Indonesians are generally not Muslims, while adding that the president recently ordered the Office of the State Minister of Communications and Information to start registering prepaid mobile phone users.

That will help identify callers or people who send SMS hate messages, he said.

The Chinese community makes up about 3 percent of Indonesia's 220 million population, but controls much of the country's private wealth. -- AP