NU bans raids on nightclubs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 07/17/2010 10:41 PM | Headlines

Said Aqiel Siradj: JP

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Said Aqiel Siradj warned members of the country’s largest Muslim organization against conducting raids on amusement centers ahead of Ramadan fasting month.

 

Said Aqiel asked NU members not to take the law into their hands and commit acts of violence in the name of religion.

“To maintain peaceful atmosphere during Ramadan NU members should refrain themselves from violence and taking the law into their own hands. Only police who have the authority to take action against or raid nightclubs,” he said during NU anniversary celebration in Kudus, Central Java on Saturday.

He also called on other Muslim groups to drop any plan to conduct raids on amusement centers prior to or during Ramadan, which he said would tarnish the solemnity of the fasting month itself.

NU members, he added, were responsible to help law enforcers create a favorable environment for Muslims to perform their religious duties during Ramadan, which this year will start on Aug. 11.

"NU aims to realize a unitary state of Indonesia which upholds the Constitution, unity in diversity and state ideology Pancasila. If the law enforcers cannot uphold the law, we must support and help them,” he said as quoted by Antara.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri had pledged to take actions against hard-line groups or vigilantes known to have committed acts of violence ahead of Ramadan.