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Indonesia: Jihad Groups Attack Discos
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - Disco and nightclub owners in Jakarta are paying a high price for not hindering orders to close down their businesses during the month of Ramadan. On Saturday, a group of 300 Islamists attacked a café and a discotheque in South Jakarta.
Organized into two armed groups, the Laskar Hizbullah and The Jihad Group destroyed everything they could find in the hotspots, including music equipment and computers.
The groups were dressed in Japanese ninja outfits and armed with machetes and swords. They stormed Kemang’s Pasir Putih Discotheque, robbing patrons of their hand-phones and wallets in the process. The attackers then went to nearby Salsa Cafe, around 500 meters from the Pasir Putih, riding on two trucks and three minibuses.
On arrival at Salsa Cafe, the attackers immediately broke glass windows, took away drinking equipment and a VCD player.
“We were about to close the cafe but they suddenly forced open the door trashed everything they could find,” Sukardi, a security guard of the cafe, told reporters yesterday.
As has become a trend in the area, the police came after mob had retreated, over an hour later, witnesses said.
The managements of both venues denied violating the city’s regulations under which entertainment places must close before 12:00 pm.
“We did not violate the regulations of the governor, which state that amusement centers must be closed by 12:00 pm. It was only 11.00 pm when they came here and trashed the place,” said Ridwan, one of the managers of Pasir Putih Discotheque.
The raid was part of the morality patrol by the Islamists who earlier in the month of Ramadan attacked other discotheques and bars in Jakarta.
The Islam Defense Party (IDP) started its campaign against the opening of these hotspots during the holy fasting month, claiming it was not moral to allow these centers to be opened while Muslims were fasting.
Most amusement centers in Jakarta and other cities are closed during this month. The government of Indonesia decided that these centers should close to respect the Muslim holy month.
The Islamists have promised to raid other cafes and discotheques in five municipalities of Jakarta, while in other Indonesian cities other groups continued their own campaign against the hotspots.
Islamists from 25 Islamic organizations, all part of the Surakarta Islamic Group Alliance, have vowed to close all bars, discos, brothels and casinos by force during Ramadan in the city of Solo.
Contrary to the threat of Jihad groups, Surakarta Mayor Slamet Suryanto and Sukarakarta Police Chief Aryanto Boediardjo made an announcement in which they stated that all amusement centers may be opened during Ramadan from 6.00 pm until 11.00 pm. The decree received full support from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
“The Mayor of Surakarta does not pay attention to our requirements. We must close all amusement centers. It is the responsibility of police and military personnel if there is a clash between them and us,” said the head of Laskar Jihad for Central Java, Anwar Suhuri.
He added that once Laskar Jihad goes to town, it would not be for a show of force, it would be more than that. It will be a declaration of war, adding that, “Of course we will not regret destroying anything.”
He said his group is upset because the mayor and the police chief have given their full support to amoral thugs whose wicked ways pollute the holy month of Ramadan.
“Actually, the police pay less attention to any decree of the mayor, but for this one, the police give their full support. We are afraid that the police have received special tributaries from the amusement centers,” said the head of Surakarta Islamic Youth Front, M. Taufik.
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