T

he government has been urged to strictly enforce the law when dealing with members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and other mass organizations instead of merely disbanding them, an act that could be regarded as anti-democratic.

Sociologist Vedi R. Hadiz from the University of Melbourne told a discussion in Jakarta on Monday that the growing intolerance pushed by groups such as the FPI was the result of years of omission by the state.

“Intolerant groups can continue to engage in their violent actions because there is a part of the state apparatus that preserves them. Do we see any of these groups that attack minority groups such as the Ahmadiyah, for example, being held accountable for their actions?” Vedi asked.

Vedi encouraged law enforcers to punish any organization that disturbed the peace and public order. However, Vedi also argued that disbanding intolerant groups was anti-democratic.

Discussions on how to best discipline disruptive mass organizations have arisen once again after the FPI attracted public attention for mobilizing mass demonstrations calling for the imprisonment of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of ethnic Chinese descent, for alleged blasphemy.

To crack down on the amplifying violence that is spreading across Indonesia, the government is planning to revise the prevailing Law No. 17/2013 on mass organizations to expand the definition of anti-Pancasila in order to include more categories of groups that could be banned from operating in the country.