Religious leaders are warning that the National Police’s plan to monitor sermons during Ramadan to prevent the spread of extremism will offend and anger Muslims, and be viewed as a repeat of tactics employed during the Suharto regime. The plan could also further increase tensions between security forces and the public after some local airports recently began conducting extra security checks of passengers wearing Muslim robes and veils. Suhal Mahfudh, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), criticized the police plan as counterproductive. “If implemented, the surveillance could incite hatred among Muslim communities toward the police,” he said on Sunday. “The number of radical groups is very small. Police cannot put the blame on all Muslim communities and put all Muslim boarding schools on their radar. Monitoring religious gatherings implies that the police are suspicious of all Muslim citizens. This can be considered offensive.” The National Police announced on Friday that it planned special surveillance of religious speeches during Ramadan to prevent hard-line Islamist groups from using the fasting month ceremonies to spread radical views and provoke congregations into carrying out terrorist acts. The plan was formed in reaction to the July 17 twin suicide bombings at two upscale Jakarta hotels. The MUI and other groups are considering lodging an official protest with the National Police, though none had done so as of Sunday. “I remember when Suharto was in power, and police used students to monitor speeches on campuses,” said Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the ultraconservative Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia. “The police bought the recorded speech from students for Rp 25,000 [$2.50] per cassette, and if they found something suspicious, the cassette would then be used as evidence against the speaker.” Ismail also warned of a public backlash. He noted a news report that a traveling family wearing Muslim garb “were interrogated like criminals in [the Banten town of] Balaraja just because they went the wrong way going home and [stopped to] rest in a mosque.” The National Police should be aware that using repressive means against suspected “state enemies” as during the Suharto era is no longer acceptable, said Tifatul Sembiring, chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), an Islam-based party. “When police make arrests, they must have sufficient reasons and a strong legal basis, unlike during the New Order regime,” he said. “Police need to avoid bombastic measures like those of [former US President] George W. Bush. Our justice system has already adopted laws against inciting hatred, so police must act according to the law.” Tifatul also expressed concern about the Balaraja incident, in which local residents interrogated the parents and their children and hauled them to the police station as suspected terrorists. “The police’s recent counter-terrorism measures have encouraged our own people to be suspicious of those in Muslim dress — that’s what I mean when I say the police must act extra cautiously in handling this [policy],” he said.
