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s many as 20,000 police officers will guard houses of worship in Jakarta to secure the Easter holiday period, which will begin on Friday, City Police operational bureau head Sr. Comr. Sujarno said.

“We will deploy officers to guard churches and other vital objects,” Sujarno stated on Tuesday.

Sujarno added that the deployment would be based on jurisdiction, because officers had better knowledge about their respective areas of operation.

“Each subdistrict police office will be responsible for the security of every subdistrict,” he said.

The police urged Jakartans to stay alert, even though there were no indications of potential terrorist activity, Sujarno added.

Security once again came to the forefront of public attention following a suicide bombing that took place during Friday prayers last week at the AZ-Dzikra mosque inside the Cirebon City Police compound in West Java.

Twenty-five people, mostly police officers, were wounded.

Muhammadiyah Youth Central Board chief Saleh Daulay told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that he had already attempted to implement strong structural preventive safeguard procedures in order for his organization to avoid any violence.

“I have made an official instruction through letter and [other] media, asking my members to be cautious against possible provocation from irresponsible individuals or groups which might cause unrest,” he said.

“We are ready to stand on the front-line to fight against possible threats to religious harmony,” he added.

Saleh, however, said that the Muhammadiyah Youth had not yet prepared personnel to help guard churches around Jakarta.

“However, if in one or two days ahead there are threats, we will surely take actions,” he said.

Saleh said that he was reluctant to deploy his people to act as a security force, “To be honest, not everyone is sympathetic with [security] activities,” he said.

Saleh added that he hoped the bombing would not be used as justification for further violence under the banner of vengeance.

“The cost that must be paid for violent acts against religious difference is too high,” he said.

The central board of the Muhammadiyah Youth reportedly has a paramilitary wing, called the Security Command (Kokam).

Islam Defenders Front (FPI) secretary-general Ahmad Sobri Lubis told The Jakarta Post that although their organization was often characterized as radical, they were ready if the authorities asked them to safeguard Easter celebrations.

Ahmad said that FPI now was now focused on protesting the new movie, simply titled ?, for its pluralist theme.

The FPI has threatened to raid cinemas if the film is not removed from the big screen this month.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has set up a team to formulate recommendations of banning the movie. (rpt)