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Pesantren Attack Was Personally Motivated: Police
February 16, 2011

Policemen guard Al Ma Policemen guard Al Ma'hadul Islam pesantren (boarding school) in Beji subdistrict, Pasuruan, East Java on Tuesday after an attack by an angry mob which injured at least four students. (Antara Photo/Musyawir).
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jchay
3:20pm Feb 16, 2011

Whether it was a personal or religious motivated attack, both shows that the Indonesian Police has again failed to do their job to protect and serve the people. Period.

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East Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the attack on an East Java Muslim boarding school was a criminal act related to personal grievances.

Haiti made the statement after an emergency meeting to calm tensions after an assault Tuesday on the Al Ma'hadul Islam pesantren (boarding school), located in the Kenep village of Beji subdistrict in Pasuruan. High-ranking area police and military commanders met with Nahdlatul Ulama officials and Al Ma'hadul Islam staff early Wednesday morning.

With Indonesia under the spotlight due to religious attacks in the last two weeks, police have stepped up efforts to address incidents more forcefully.

On Tuesday, dozens of men in religious robes attacked the pesantren, injuring four people.

Haiti said three suspects, identified by initials UB, MZ and DU, are currently being questioned at the Pasuruan Police Headquarters. All of them are in their 20's and residents of Bangil subdistrict.

“The police are trying to match the information gathered from witnesses with the evidence,” Haiti said, adding that the number of suspects are likely to increase.

According to Haiti, the attack was triggered by a personal grievance against the pesantren. The suspects acted on their own accord, after they attended a prayer meeting in Singosari.

The suspects, he said, traded insults with people from the Islamic school as they passed the building on their way home.

Previously, an anonymous source told the Jakarta Globe that the attack was carried out by Sunni Muslims who believed the school was harboring Shiite followers of Islam. Sunni Islam, followed by most Indonesian Muslims, is the world's largest denomination of the faith.

Haiti admitted the meeting discussed Shiites but “there was no provocation to launch any attack on any Shiite organizations,” he said.

Antara, JG