What is wrong here?

The front page of The Jakarta Post on Nov. 20 said: Police negotiating with pesantren over suspects.

I do not know what is wrong with our country when the police have to negotiate with the leaders of Islamic boarding schools and it is a sensitive issue to conduct raids. If schools, regardless of which religion they are affiliated with, are harboring terrorists there is no need to be sensitive.

If the so-called radical groups in our country are really only a small minority, as the government wants us to believe, what are they afraid of? This confirms again to the world that Indonesia appears to be a haven for terrorists and corruptors. Everything is sensitive and the most preferred action is "no action".

Our President had the opportunity to go on TV right after the Bali bombing to explain to the citizens of Indonesia that there is no place for religious extremists and terrorists in this country. She could have sent a million of her supporters into the streets of Jakarta to demonstrate peacefully against terrorist groups and all types of terror. This would have given her the support of the majority of Indonesians and a chance to retain power in 2004.

Now given the current circumstances, she and her party will most likely receive less than 20 percent of the vote in the elections.

HERDI SENO, Jakarta