An Islamic organization and the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) have both gone on record to say that fringe organizations should not conduct operations to "fight against vices" during Ramadan.
In previous years, several hard-line (or what are often called "mass") organizations often took the law into their own hands by raiding and vandalizing night clubs, massage parlors and other entertainment centers during the holy month.
According to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), one of the biggest Islamic organizations in Indonesia, imposing such regulatory force during Ramadan is solely the responsibility of police.
"There is no merit in Muslims taking over the task from the police. What we can do is make suggestions and assist police," said Miftachul Akhyar, a chairman of for NU in East Java, on Saturday.
Akhyar, who is the leader of Miftachussunnah Islamic Boarding School (or Pesantren), said that operations against such entertainment centers by Islamic organizations would give the impression that Muslims are interfering in the affairs of law enforcers.
"NU will not accept these raids as 'mistakes'; we will have to see things in the right context. It is not impossible for other parties to use these operations to create provocations in an effort to corner Islam," Akhyar said.
For their part, IPW said that the National Police must have the courage to take firm action against what they called "fringe organizations" that conducted vigilante operations against night-life venues operating during Ramadan.
"But police must also have the will to act upon and arrest owners of night spots that operate during the fasting month," said Neta S Pane, the presidium chairman of IPW.
"IPW avails itself to remind police that vigilante justice, demonstrations and protests conducted at night are against the law. Therefore, the National Police must have the guts to field its mobile brigade and anti-riot forces to stop mass organizations from conducting such sweepings," said Neta.
Furthermore, Neta said that if mass organizations turn anarchic, police should be willing to use rubber bullets; Neta cited past police actions where officers fired rubber bullets to disperse student rallies.
"IPW also asks regional governments to be consistent with and willing to assist police in overcoming potential conflicts and security threats during the fasting month," Neta stressed.
"Based on the IPW monitoring, about 70 percent of the night spots continue to operate during the fasting month. Although these watering holes are seemingly closed from the front, they still continue back-end operations," Neta said.