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day after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged zero tolerance against vigilante groups, calls are again mounting for the government to take action on the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

Members of the public, ranging from prominent local clerics to young netizens, deplored the clash between members of FPI Temanggung branch and locals of Sukorejo in Kendal that killed a resident and injured three others. The riot broke out following the FPI'€™s attempts to conduct a sweep in the village'€™s red-light area last Thursday.

Dozens of preachers in Central Java concerned that the repressive actions shown by the FPI would give Islam a bad name. '€œWhy did an organization conduct acts of anarchy in the name of Islam? Does the group really understand sharia?'€ Nasir Azhari, the leader of Mashitoh Islamic boarding in Salatiga, said during a meeting with Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Dwi Priyatno in Semarang on Monday.

While preachers delivered their views to police officials the tech-savvy generation opted to amass support for the FPI'€™s disbandment through social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Indonesian online activism platform, Change.org.

Valerie Esmeralda, a 16-year-old student from Jakarta, invited her Twitter followers to sign a petition on Change.org, titled '€œPresiden RI '€“ Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: Bubarkan FPI Segera!'€ (President: Dissolve the FPI Immediately!)

'€œDisband FPI. SIGN. THIS. NOW.'€ Valerie Esmeralda said while sharing the petition link on her account @valesmeralda.

In the wake of the clash in Kendal, the president said that he would not tolerate anyone who took the law into their own hands. '€œMy position is very clear, we will not tolerate anyone who conducts acts of violence,'€ he said on Sunday
in Jakarta.

The president instructed the National Police to maintain security following the fatal clash in Kendal. '€œI instructed the National Police and other law enforcement bodies not to let such incidents happen again. The law must be upheld to prevent any horizontal conflict, and to prevent any element, including the FPI, from committing acts of violence,'€ he said.

Dismayed by the statement, FPI chairman Habib Rizieq issued a press statement on Monday, calling Yudhoyono '€œa loser who spread slanderous statements and stayed tight-lipped about maksiat [immoral practices]'€.

'€œIn Kendal, the FPI did not conduct a sweep, but only a peaceful monitoring without bringing any weapons. In fact, hundreds of brothel thugs conducted a sweep to us,'€ he said on the group'€™s website, www.fpi.or.id

Habib Rizieq added that the FPI chapter Temanggung had communicated the sweep to Kendal Police Precinct. '€œWhy did SBY talk about the FPI, but was silent over armed brothel thugs and the red light district that operates all day long during Ramadhan?'€ he said.

Members of the House of Representatives have urged the Home Ministry to hand down sanctions against the FPI by utilizing the newly-enacted Mass Organization Law. The law states that any mass organizations, which have repeatedly created social unrest, could be subject to sanctions, ranging from warnings to permanent disbandment.

The Central Java Police have arrested seven suspects in connection with the clash, consisting of three FPI members and four Sukorejo locals.

However, FPI advocacy division chief Zaenal Abidin Petir argued that a suspect, who ran over residents with an Avanza car, might be a FPI supporter, not its member.

The car crash killed a 42-year-old resident, Tri Muniarti, and injured three others, including Tri'€™s husband.