Camelia Pasandaran – One of Indonesia's highest authorities on Islam on Wednesday demanded that local government handle burial arrangements for the terror suspects killed in a raid last week after public outcry over plans to intern the bodies in Central Java.

Amidhan, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, said that the local government in Central Java should take over the burial plans for the terror suspects.

"As there has been rejection [from the community], the local government should bury them in a public cemetery," Amidhan said. "Most importantly, the government should make people understand that these terrorists were still Muslims who were lost," he said.

"I believe the terrorists even think that they are more Islamic than many other believers. They probably pray more than others do, but they are lost. They think that being terrorist is a ticket to heaven. So, they should not be condemned, nor glorified."

However, Amidhan also said that people had no right to claim that the terror suspects were not Muslim. "They're just lost in their beliefs," he said.

On Wednesday morning, banners had been placed at some intersections in Solo, Central Java, declaring "Solo rejects the terrorists' corpses" in response to rumors that some of the suspects killed in the raid, including Bagus Budi Pranoto, known as Urwah, and Ario Sudarso, known as Aji, would be buried in the district. By Wednesday afternoon some of the banners had already been removed.

In Mijen village, people from the Public Forum for Peace rallied in front of the village hall rejecting the burial of Urwah in their village. They carried banners rejecting the burial plan and demanding the local government to reject his corpse, claiming that Urwah was no longer a citizen of the village. Protestors also gathered outside the district call, chanting their stance using loudspeakers mounted to a car.

Urwah and Aji's lawyer, Muhammad Kurniawan from the Islamic Study and Action Center, said that the protest banners were an irresponsible act. "Those who put the banners are provocateurs," Kurniawan said, as quoted by Antara. He said that it was not clear who erected the banners in Solo.

Kurniawan said that Urwah and Aji will not be buried in Solo. Urwah will be buried in Kudus, while Aji will be buried in Purbalingga. Urwah's family plans to take his body to his hometown on Friday. Despite the public outcry in Kudus, Kurniawan said that there were no plans at the moment to bury the suspects anywhere else.

Though Amidhan said he disagreed with the public's reaction, such a phenomenon was common as a form of social punishment.

"Seeing it from a religious point of view, they should not reject the burial," he said. "However, we can understand it as a form of social punishment, so we should not blame them. It will be a good lesson for those who are considering becoming terrorists to think twice."