Jakarta – In the face of many calls to freeze the activities of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the hard-line group remained firm that they were here to stay.

Al-Habib Mushin Ahmad Alattas, the FPI's campaign and inter faith relations chief, said that calls to disband the group were irrational. "We don't have to evaluate anything, because all the calls to disband us are nonsense. They don't have any right to dissolve us," he said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.

Alattas was one of the 17 people grouped under the Islamic Umat Forum who complained to House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, human rights and security about the recent rejection of four FPI senior leaders by residents of Central Kalimantan.

Around 800 protesters, mostly from the Dayak ethnic group, staged a rally on Feb. 11 at Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangkaraya to block the FPI leaders' arrival. The rally inspired 100 people, uniting under the banner of "Indonesia-without-the-FPI", to stage a rally in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, demanding the government disband the FPI.

Furthermore, Alattas refuted Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi's statement that the FPI had received two warning letters from the ministry. Alattas claimed that his group had never received any warnings from the ministry or any other parties.

He also blamed all of the violent acts conducted by FPI members on unnamed provocateurs who wanted to destroy the group's image. "Many of our members have already been jailed for that, so why would you bring that up again?" (asa)