The Jakarta Globe, July 10, 2013.
Muslims across Indonesia began celebrating the holy month of Ramadan Wednesday, with hard-liners vowing to raid “sinful” bars and police steamrolling a mountain of alcohol and porn amid rising intolerance.
Islam’s holiest month is used by hard-liners in Indonesia as an opportunity to attack nightclubs, bars and shops that openly sell alcohol, the consumption of which is against Islamic law.
There were fears the situation could be worse this year after a recent upsurge in attacks on religious minorities and non-mainstream Muslims.
Critics say hard-liners such as the notorious Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) have been emboldened by the government’s failure to crack down on them and prevent such attacks.
In the days before Ramadan, there were already reports the FPI — who led protests that forced pop star Lady Gaga to cancel a concert in Jakarta last year — had started conducting such raids.
“We will take firm action against the circulation of alcohol, naked dancing and prostitution,” Habib Idrus Algadri, head of an FPI group in Depok district outside Jakarta, was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
He was leading a group of FPI members who confiscated bottles of alcohol from a shop at the weekend.
Habib Salim Alatas, the head of the FPI’s Jakarta branch, told AFP that 50 members would be sent out to monitor nightspots in the capital every evening.
“We will send out groups of two to three wearing civilian clothes to spy on sinful activities like the drinking of alcohol taking place around Jakarta during the Ramadan holy month,” he said.
“We will not hesitate to conduct our own raids if we see that the police and authorities are failing to do a good job.”
Authorities have also been making a show of cracking down on the illegal sale of alcohol, a popular move during Ramadan.
At the weekend police in Jakarta used a steamroller to crush thousands of bottles of homemade alcohol that was being sold in places without licenses and pornographic and pirated DVDS.
Jakarta’s public order agency (Satpol PP) urged hard-liners to refrain from conducting their own raids. The agency promised to conduct sweeps of Jakarta, targeting the 1,799 establishments subject to Ramadan regulations. Nearly 900 bars, nightclubs, massage parlors, pachinko parlors and pool halls said they would remain closed for the entire month.
The remaining establishments will only open from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
“I’m sure mass organizations, the public and entertainment businesses understand and respect this [policy],” Jakarta Satpol PP chief Kukuh Hadi Santoso said. “Members of the public or mass organizations can report violations to Satpol PP or Jakarta’s Tourism and Culture Agency.”
For the small number in Indonesia who drink, getting a beer during Ramadan can be a challenge as some bars only want to serve customers they know for fear of being targeted by hard-line spies.
Some stop serving alcohol, while others try to keep hard-liners away by putting blinds on their windows, serving drinks in mugs instead of glasses and asking customers to sneak in through side doors.
Tens of millions across the Muslim world fast from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable during Ramadan.
Despite the rising influence of hard-liners, the majority of the 240 million people in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, practice a moderate form of Islam. For most, Ramadan is a month of celebration that ends with the Idul Fitri holiday.
Ramadan Raids Begin in Jakarta,
The Jakarta administration said it would begin raiding night clubs and some other establishments on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, as the majority of Indonesian Muslims prepared for Ramadan.
Kukuh Hadi Santoso, the chief of Jakarta’s Public Order office — Satpol PP — said 225 officers, including some police and military personnel, would be spread across the city to make sure that night clubs, bars and other entertainment establishments obeyed a circular issued by the local tourism and culture agency.
The edict requires around half of them to close for the entire month, while others are to be subject to reduced opening hours.
“Officers will sweep all entertainment establishments in Jakarta… and take action against those violating the rules,” Kukuh said on Tuesday. “Sanctions given to violators will range from administrative penalties and written warnings to them being shut down and having their operating license revoked.”
Kukuh said the raids would be conducted from around 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
A total of 1,799 establishments are subject to the edict, Kukuh said. Nearly 900 of them are compelled to completely close for the entire Islamic holy month, estimated to end on Aug. 7, while the rest may open only from 8:30 p.m. through 1:30 a.m.
Among the first category are night clubs, discotheques, massage parlors and bars, with the exemption being bars that are part of hotel services. The second category includes karaoke houses, billiard halls and live-music venues.
All establishments will have to close, however, on the day before Ramadan, the first day of Ramadan, the 16th day, during the two days of Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the fasting month, and the day after the holiday.
This according to the Jak. Globe.
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wo 10 jul 2013 - 7:27