Jakarta – Anti-Fanatic Petition Nears 500K Signatures!

Having written about the FPI ( self-styled ‘Defenders of Islam’) vigilante gang….

Sukorejo’s Sectarian Samurai – IslamoNazi Thugs Get Slap on Wrist

Nightmare – Indonesian IslamoNazis Get Armed Forces Training! 

…many a time in the past ten years or more…

—

IslamoNazis V Freedom-Fighters? – Some Chicken, Some Neck

IslamoNazi Gauleiter – “Women Already Have Limitations..

FPI in West Java – ‘Let’s Burn Out the Orphans!’ 

…I was interested to read that a petition launched to stop renewal of their license ( yes, vigilante gangs can apply for a license here as ‘community organisations’ or ‘Ormas!’ ) has already attracted some 473,000 signatures!

https://www.change.org/p/menteri-dalam-negeri-tjahjo-kumolo-stop-ijin-fpi

A counter petition is also on the go, by fans of the fanatics, but, when last heard of, was lagging far behind their pluralist rivals.

Banning the sectarian outfit has been a recurring issue but has not been acted on by any government, for reasons that remain inexplicable to Indonesians of all creeds…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Defenders_Front

…but only inexplicable until the historical background is considered, the gang’s origins going back to the turmoil surrounding the downfall of the Suharto regime when elements in the security forces took the FPI under their wing.

Astounding readiness to be seen in public on an amicable basis with the FPI leadership from people in high office has continued till the present day.

.

…..Presidential candidate Prabowo with FPI’s Habib Rizieq, and here’s President Jokowi sharing a platform with the same fanatic….

…

Rizieq, far-left, Minister Wiranto, President Jokowi

So Has Indonesia Come To This? Paradise Lost?

Even the country’s top cop, Tito Karnavian, has not hesitated to talk approvingly of the FPI’s ‘grand imam,’ Habib Rizieq, currently in Saudi Arabia  (and seemingly unwilling to come home. Police Add FPI Leader Rizieq Shihab to Most Wanted List )

“He was very tolerant actually… FPI is an Islamic organization so very tolerant of other religions,” he added. Video Viral, Tito Karnavian: FPI Ormas Islam yang Sangat Toleran

You may wish to read the long local linked report  – Google Translate has gotten better recently – but I only wanted to let people know of the petition.

My blog has a steady Indonesian readership!

So I’ll close with an extract from the report, a quote from another leading FPI office-bearer, Sobri Lubis, who ‘assessed that those who refused to extend their organizational permits were those who like to commit immorality.

“Maybe people who are fond of sinners are usually those who ask that FPI be dissolved. No problem,” Sobri said at the residence of Prabowo Subianto on Jalan Kertanegara IV, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, Tuesday (7/5) night.  https://m.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190508203941-20-393206/200-ribu-orang-tandatangani-petisi-setop-izin-fpi?

Sinners, huh?

————

Sobri Lubis

…….

I could ask why Prabowo is giving somebody of Lubis’ character house-room, but in order that new readers get my reference to Lubis’s character, they need to watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7RLCXNdKF4  –which shows him issuing his monstrous call for his rabble audience to ‘Bunuh, Bunuh, Bunuh’ (KILL KILL KILL!) innocent members of the peaceful and inoffensive Ahmadi minority.

….incitement for which he was never prosecuted, BTW!