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Dipo expresses pity for FPI's Rizieq
Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam was calm when asked to comment on a statement by Rizieq Shihab, the chairman of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), who called President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono âa loser
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abinet Secretary Dipo Alam was calm when asked to comment on a statement byRizieq Shihab, the chairman of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), whocalled President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 'a loser.'
'I just feel pity,' Dipo said at the State Palace on Tuesday 'The President was just asking all of us to respect each other and obey the law, but they took it negatively. The FPI should instead contemplate things.'
Rizieq issued a press statement on Monday, calling Yudhoyono 'a loser who spread slanderous statements and stayed tight-lipped about maksiat [immoral practices]'.
He was referring to a press statement by Yudhoyono on Sunday in which he criticized the FPI for committing vigilante acts.
The statement was made on the heels of a clash between members of the FPI's Temanggung branch and locals of Sukorejo in Kendal, Central Java, which claimed the life of a pregnant woman and injured three other people.
The riot broke out following the FPI's attempts to conduct a sweep in the village's red-light district on Thursday.
'No vigilante acts are justified, particularly those carried out in the name of religion. Islam is not identical with violence, vigilantism and vandalism. Any civilian elements committing such actions are actually embarrassing and undermining Islam,' the President said.
But Rizieq defended his Temanggung members by calling their actions 'peaceful monitoring without bringing any weapons.'
