Letters: Indonesia's safety at stake

This is a comment on "Terrorist suspect bodies laid to rest in Sragen" (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 13)

A question that may now be uppermost in the minds of those who read this truly mind-boggling report is: Why does the Indonesian government, which is now apparently cracking down on terrorists with all its might, permit this?

Why is Abubakar Ba'asyir, the hard-line Muslim cleric, still allowed to spout inflammatory and actual terrorist-supporting statements such as: "We should pray for Eko and Air to be rewarded and forgiven by Allah, although the way they embraced jihad was different from how it should have been" and "these two suspects had died as martyrs because they fought for Islamic sharia".

By his very words, which are dangerously misleading and not at all founded on sensible and judicious interpretation of the Koran, Ba'asyir is actually encouraging more aspirant terrorists to come forward and become suicide bombers.

If, according to Baasyir, Air Setyawan and Eko Joko Sarjono "died as martyrs because they fought for Islamic sharia" and "should actually be rewarded by Allah" then, by the same perverted reasoning this aged cleric uses, Noordin M. Top should be declared "a hero for jihad in defending Islamic Sharia",

The safety and the continuity of this whole Indonesia is at stake here! Stop using kid gloves against these troublemakers, President SBY, and start cracking down on them! Show them that you mean business!

Tami Koestomo
Bogor, West Java