Jakarta – Amid criticism for his alleged failure to take action, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed concern about the growth of militias who glorify violence in the name of religion or ethnicity.
Although he made no specific mention of any group, Yudhoyono said that nobody in the republic has the right to dictate their views to others by means of violence. He said he knew of groups who are intolerant and take the law into their own hands.
"No element or community in this country can force their will on others, or do whatever they want and resort to lawlessness. It's time for each of us to behave responsibly," he said while opening a two-day congress of the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB) here on Saturday.
Public resentment of the government's failure to stop violent religious and ethnic-based militias has been growing, following incidents of violence involving such groups.
The former First Lady Siti Nuriyah Wahid reported Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) leader Fadloli El Muhir to the police for allegedly slandering women activists who took part in a street demonstration against the anti-pornography bill. FBR members have also reportedly tried to force singer Inul Daratista to leave Jakarta for similar reasons.
Last week, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) reportedly forced former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid to leave the podium at an interfaith forum in Purwakarta, West Java. They did it to protest his statement on a radio talk show that the holy Koran was "the most pornographic scripture".
The Purwakarta incident has triggered tension between FPI and Gus Dur's supporters, who staged street demonstrations last Friday demanding that the government disband FPI.
Addressing his followers during a counter-demonstration near FPI headquarters in Central Jakarta, FPI leader Habib Riziq insisted that the group would defend the anti-pornography bill as best they could.
The bill, which has found support among Islamic-oriented political parties and conservative Muslim leaders, is being debated at the House of Representatives.
The President portrayed the growth of intolerant groups which justify violence as a sign of eroding nationalism. "Our founding fathers built this country on the consensus of unity in diversity. It is a consensus that we have to uphold forever," he said.
The president said forcing others to accept certain values is not only against the law but also against the principle of democracy.
PPIB chairman Sjahrir, a noted economist and a presidential advisor for economic affairs, also warned of national disintegration because the people are increasingly segregated. They have come to distrust each other, he said. "When you don't have trust in others, you trust only yourself. The concern is when your trust in yourself is absolute. We must maintain integration because, by design and by essence, our principle of unity in diversity is about differences," he said.