TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Muchsin Ahmad Alatas Chairman of the Shura Council of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) claimed that the organization has millions of members. He also stated that the FPI is registered at the Ministry of Home Affairs as an official organization.
Muchsin dismissed Dipo Alam's remark that the organization has not been registered. Dipo is FPI's Cabinet Secretary.
"We are registered at the Ministry of Home Affairs, perhaps [Dipo] does not understand this issue well," said Muchsin.
Muchsin could not say the exact number of its members throughout Indonesia. He said that they are still compiling the data.
According to Muchsin, to become a member of the FPI, parental consent is required. "We always try to monitor that--it is our standard procedure."
He asked for his organization to no longer be blamed for the various acts of violence. "There's something funny about this country; if FPI does something wrong, the entire organization is blamed. But if the House of Representative of a [political] party makes a mistake, they only blame the individuals," Muchsin argued.
FPI came under the spotlight again following a string violent acts committed by its members. One of them happened in Kendal, Central Java on Thursday last week. A clash broke between members of the FPI with residents of Sukorejo, Kendal, leading to the death of a motorcyclist that was hit by a car driven by FPI members.
The clash was presumably triggered by FPI members' raiding a prostitution area in Sukorejo. A day earlier, they had also raided a number of red light districts in Sukorejo.
SUBKHAN
