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Jakarta. Malaysian politicians and nongovernmental organizations have labeled the actions of Indonesian demonstrators who threw feces at the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta totally unacceptable and called on the Indonesian government to take action.

Foreign Minister Seri Anifah Aman was quoted by The Star Online as saying “small groups” like Indonesia’s People’s Democratic Defense Group (Bendera) should not be allowed to hold both nations to ransom.

Malaysian Chinese Association international bureau chief Chor Chee Heung, again quoted by the Star, said Indonesian authorities must take action against what he said was a totally unacceptable attack.

Members of the fringe group Bendera, who have a history of staging publicity seeking protests against Malaysia over the most trivial of issues, also smeared the Malaysian flag, “Jalur Gemilang” (“Stripes of Glory”), in human excrement during a demonstration against Malaysia’s brief detention of three Indonesian marine officers.

Heung said failing to prosecute members of the group would severely undermine diplomatic ties.

“We cannot continue to give in to the demands of the group that acted illegally as it will affect our relationship with Indonesia,” he said.

Khairy Jamaluddin, head of the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), urged Indonesian authorities to act against the distasteful protesters.

“They should also step up security at our embassy to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. Our embassy was attacked and humiliated and we cannot tolerate that,” he said.

Haja Najmudeen Kader, president of the Muslim League, said the gross incident contravened Muslim brotherhood, adding Bendera should be banned for creating havoc between the nations.

Young Muslim Sports Club president Munower Sadiq told The Star that when Indonesian leaders visited Malaysia, “they say that we have the same roots, same religion, same race and so on. If this is indeed true then why do such things?”

Commentator Mergawati Zulfakar, meanwhile, alleged the border incident was a “clear-cut case” of Indonesian authorities encroaching into Malaysia territorial waters to arrest local fishermen.

In an article titled ‘Calming the waves of wrath’ in The Sun, Mergawati said Malaysia officials had received satellite photos showing that the 15 fishermen in five boats were “indeed in Malaysian territory.”

“Their GPS clearly showed this. An Indonesian maritime boat which encroached into Tanjung Punggai in Kota Tinggi confronted the boats and arrested seven fishermen.”

He said Malaysian marine police were alerted to the border breach and dispatched two vessels to the scene, which unsuccessfully attempt to stop the Indonesian vessel carrying the fishermen from reaching Indonesian waters.

“The Malaysian marine police caught up with the five Malaysian fishermen boats and found three Indonesian maritime officers hiding inside the engine room of two boats, both which had had their GPS thrashed,” he said.

“The Indonesian maritime officers were brought to the Kota Tinggi police station and the court granted a four-day remand until Aug. 18 for further investigation.”

Mergawati finished by criticizing Malaysian authorities for not releasing the Indonesians after taking their statements.

“It would have been a magnanimous thing to do and Jakarta would probably have apologized – or at least one would hope so.”