Arientha Primanita & Rahmat – The Islamic Defenders Front's vow to observe a peaceful Ramadan lasted less than two weeks, as members shut down Restaurants in Makassar on Friday and warned of raids in Jakarta.
The hard-line group, known as the FPI, has in past years forced restaurants and nightspots to shut down during Ramadan, raiding businesses with little, if any, police interference. But the group said this year it would avoid raids, and instead notify the authorities if it found nightspots in violation of operating hours.
That promise seems to have been forgotten as FPI members raided restaurants in the South Sulawesi capital after Friday prayers, and the group's head in Jakarta issued a warning to businesses here.
"On Nuzulul Quran, if there are entertainment places like discotheques, nightclubs, pool houses or massage parlors still open, then we will force them to close their businesses. Especially if there are Muslims in them," Habib Salim Alatas told the Jakarta Globe.
Nuzulul Quran is the day on which Muslims believe the first verses of the Koran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad. It falls on Tuesday this year.
Salim said the FPI had notified the Jakarta Police and the Jakarta Public Order Agency about its plan to shut down businesses, which he said was meant to secure Ramadan from any "disturbances."
He denied his group would be breaking the law. "It is those [nightspots] that violate city bylaws," he said. "What we do is restore order and secure Ramadan."
Salim said the FPI had found nightspots in Central, North and South Jakarta violating Ramadan operating hours.
Effendi Anas, head of the Jakarta Public Order Agency, said his men would be on patrol on Tuesday to ensure nightspots were not operating. "We will make sure that no entertainment spots are open on that particular night. If they are, we will seal those places, not the FPI," he told the Globe.
Effendi urged the FPI to limit its actions to giving warnings. "If the FPI conducts its own raids that would be dangerous for them," he said. "They will not have to deal with us, but with the police, because such raids are against the law."
In Makassar, about 50 FPI members convoyed through the streets looking for open restaurants and food stalls shortly after Friday prayers.
They forced three restaurants on Jalan Pettarani to close, and made the owners sign written statements promising that they would not operate during daylight hours for the remainder of the fasting month.
On Jalan Boulevard and Jalan Pengayoman, the group stopped at meatball stalls and coffee shops. At one business, they smashed furniture and crockery when the owner refused to close.
Witnesses reported that police officers were nearby during the raids, but limited themselves to dealing with the traffic problems caused by the convoy.
Last month, the FPI's deputy secretary general, Awit Mashuri, said that the group would refrain from launching raids this Ramadan, and would instead act like a watchdog.
In Surabaya late last month, before Ramadan began, hard-line groups descended on the city's infamous red-light district, Dolly, to demand its closure during the holy month.
Under the umbrella of the United Islamic People's Movement (GUIB), elements from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the FPI, the Islamic Defenders Force (LPI) and the youth wing of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organization, marched through the city before arriving at Dolly.
Chanting prayers and thrusting their fists in the air, the men went from one brothel to another forcing owners to sign statements saying they would not open during Ramadan.