TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
West Jakarta Military to confront raids on Christmas paraphernalia
Change Size
A worker applies decorations on a Christmas cake at Seni Rasa workshop in Bukit Sari, Semarang, Central Java, on Dec. 20. The bakery saw a surge of 200 percent in cake orders ahead of Christmas celebrations. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
A
mid rampant raids targeting shopping malls and business centers across the country banning the use of Christmas paraphernalia, Jakarta Military Commander Lt. Col. Wahyu Yudhayana said military personnel would ensure that no raids would be done by firebrand Muslim groups in the area.
"Whatever the terms they use, be it fatwa familiarization or implementation, no mass organizations are allowed to conduct raids and take the law into their own hands," Wahyu was quoted by Warta Kota on Tuesday.
The raids are related to the issuance of a fatwa or edict from Indonesian Ulema Council prohibiting companies and business owners from forcing their employees to wear Christmas-related attributes.
"Should they [the vigilante groups] insist on doing the raids, we will arrest them and hand them over to the police," Wahyu added.
"Besides disturbing shoppers in malls, guests at hotels and businesspeople in business centers in West Jakarta, such raids will also disturb religious harmony. For that reason, we cannot tolerate such actions," Wahyu asserted.
Over the weekend, the police came under fire for their failure to prevent members of the hardline Islam Defenders Front from cracking down on business establishments that allowed their employees to wear Christmas accessories. (dmr)
