Every year around Ramadan, members of Indonesia’s self-appointed “moral police” ormas (mass organizations) such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) take it upon themselves to go on “sweeps” looking for those violating the special rules in place for the Holy Month (such as nightlife venues that shouldn’t be open) or other lawbreakers.
And this year, like every year, the police have issued warnings to these ormas to not do sweeping or any other kinds of vigilante actions. But, given the increasing clout and influence hardliners seems to hold in Indonesia after the mass protests against former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and his subsequent jailing for blasphemy, many wondered whether the police would really stand up to FPI and other ormas sweepers this year.
Well, the Ramadan season is just starting, but it’s getting off to a good beginning in terms of law and order, as evidenced by this viral video. It depicts a convoy of FPI sweepers in the satellite city of Depok on Friday night getting shut down in no uncertain terms by a local police team.
The video shows a convoy consisting of dozens of FPI members carrying sharpened bamboo sticks driving through Depok’s Margonda neighborhood. The group is abruptly stopped after hitting a checkpoint manned by members of the Depok Police’s elite Team Jaguar (a forced but admittedly cool sounding abbreviation for Tim Khusus PenJAGa GanggUAn dan Anti KeRusuhan = Special Team Guarding Against Disruptions and Rioting).
And Team Jaguar was not having it.
In the video you can hear one of the convoy members, wearing the hardline group’s white and green uniforms, trying to explain to the head Jaguar police officer that they are from the South Jakarta FPI and had come to Depok looking for violent motorcycle gangs that have been reported to be plaguing the Greater Jakarta area.
Explaining why he and the other members of his motorcycle gang… er, convoy, were armed with sharpened bamboo sticks, the FPI representative said that it was for protection against the motorcycle gangs, who reportedly had used sharp weapons to attack their victims.
Jaguar Team Depok Police Commander, Inspector Winam Agus then asked the group whether they had the right to do sweeping before firmly telling them that the police had not given them any such right, as only the police were allowed to enforce the law.
The FPI rep then changed his tune, saying that they were not actually sweeping and that they had been welcomed by all of the local residents they had passed on the way there.
Inspector Winam said greeting residents was fine but vigilante sweeping was not. His team confiscated the group’s weapons and ordered them to disperse and return to South Jakarta, which they did.
Fpi sweeping dibubarkan tim jaguar👏 @Sarah_Pndj @Takviri @PartaiSocmed @TanpaDeLusi pic.twitter.com/sFcvSYOEPR
— Jelly Bee🕵 (@JOANALE34703000) May 27, 2017
The video was widely shared over the weekend and the original Youtube video has already been viewed over 600,000 times, with most netizens praising the police for standing up to FPI and not allowing them to sweep.
Should the police be receiving so much praise for simply doing their job? Frankly, we think so. Because, as we’ve seen vividly illustrated many times before, those who cross the FPI often become target of attacks by the hardline group, ranging from online bullying to threats of criminalization and physical assault.
So yes, we think police officers like Inspector Winam in Depok and Sragen Police Chief Cahyo Widiarso, who forcefully stopped an FPI sweep around Christmas last year, deserve plenty of praise in the hopes that other police officers will follow their example and stand up to extremist vigilantes.
