OIC to militant group: who gave you the right to speak for Islam?
The visiting Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation had sharp words for the Islamic Defenders' Front, an Indonesian group that has raised a furor with its strong-arm tactics.
By Elisabeth Oktofani for Khabar Southeast Asia in Jakarta – 09/03/12
The Secretary General of OIC cannot make generalizations of the hard-line groups. Indonesia is different from Asia, the Middle East or Europe. In Indonesia, there are many vacuums that are simply ignored, whether by design or not, so that these situation makes many different parties resentful. And FPI's stance at least responds to the Islamic community's feelings of embitterment. As an example, during Ramadan, entertainment businesses agreed to open after a set time of day. But, it has been shown that the owners of these entertainment businesses (who, it should be noted, have lots of money) can pay off anybody, by-pass the regulations, and, what is more hurtful, the officials act as though 'they don't know anything', so FPI takes action. This context is then politicized with the claim that FPI is a radical group. In fact, FPI is only filling the vacuum, which is the responsibility of upholders of the law.
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