Dayak People Reject FPI Anti-Corruption Wing in C. Kalimantan

The Jakarta Globe, December 21, 2013.


The Dayak people of Central Kalimantan have expressed their strong opposition to the establishment of an anti-corruption center by the local branch of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) in the province.

Yansen Binti, the chief of the Dayak Indigenous Peoples Movement’s (Gerdayak) Central Kalimantan chapter, said that even though the tribe was not against anti-corruption efforts, the group did not want the LAKI P45 (Foundation of Anti-Corruption Fighers 45), an organization affiliated with the FPI, to open its doors in Central Kalimantan.

“Central Kalimantan residents from various backgrounds do not want any intervention from an organization related to the FPI,” Yansen said on Thursday as quoted by Tribunnews.com. “We support the existence of anti-corruption organizations, but we don’t want anarchy, and the FPI’s figures are in the LAKI P45 organization.”

On Thursday, thousands of Dayak demonstrators banged gongs and shouted out battle cries at the Tijilik Riwut airport in Palangkaraya after hearing that Muchsin Al Atas, a leader with the FPI, was to arrive and inaugurate board members for LAKI P45. After a few hours, though, the group checked with Lion Air, who said that the Muchsin was not among the listed passengers on the flight to the airport.

“We have the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission], the Attorney General and a police force — why do we need LAKI P45?” Bani Mahyuddin, a representative of the Sundanese people who live in Palangkaraya, said as quoted by Tribunnews. “We fear that they will act the same way they do in Java.”

Suwido Limin, a local scientist from Palangkaraya University, said that despite its never being officially declared, LAKI P45 had already began working.

I Nyoman, an official representative for Balinese people living in the area, also rejected the establishment of LAKI P45. He said that he didn’t want the presence of the FPI to tarnish tolerance in South Kalimantan.

“We consistently support the plan to reject the FPI because South Kalimantan has agreed to uphold the Huma Betang system [a philosophy dealing with religious diversity],” Nyoman said as quoted by kaltengpos.com.

Muslim figure Muhammad Rahdi also echoed this sentiment, saying that Muslims may be degraded if they are associated with the FPI.

“Central Kalimantan doesn’t need the FPI,” he said. “Let us secure our own region.”

FPI spokesman Munarman could not be contacted to confirm the presence of LAKI P45 in the area.

This is the second time the people of Central Kalimantan have taken a stand against FPI activity in the province.

In February 2012, the Dayak tribe protested at Tijilik Ruwut to stop members of the FPI from arriving to attend the opening of a branch office in Central Kalimantan. Around 800 people gathered, brandishing traditional weapons and wearing red scarves.

Airport authorities eventually redirected the plane carrying FPI leader Habib Rizieq Syihab and his entourage to an alternate location.



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