Hard-line denounced groups in Yogyakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 05/11/2012


Hundreds of people describing themselves as the Yogyakarta People’s Non-Violence Movement staged a rally on Friday, urging the disbandment of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) following its raid on a book discussion.

Head of the Yogyakarta chapter of the Indonesian Muslim Students’ Movement (PMII), Imam Azis, said that the MMI, along with other hard-line groups, had been tainting the city’s pluralist image.

“Those kinds of groups are disrupting the peace in our region. Yogyakarta people are ready to stand up. Long live tolerant Yogyakarta,” he said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The demonstrators protested the recent mob of MMI members who attacked participants of a book discussion at the Social and Islamic Studies Institute (LKiS) in Sorowajan, Bantul, on Wednesday.

Canadian liberal Muslim activist and author Irshad Manji suffered minor injuries in the attack, while her assistant suffered bruising to her right arm. The event’s participants, mostly women, were also injured.

Imam said the incident showed that the police failed to protect the people, adding that local authorities must redeem themselves by conducting a thorough investigation.