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Message: <blockquote data-quote="moreluck" data-source="post: 896914" data-attributes="member: 1246">So much for that whole Indonesia is “moderate” line the media tries to push.<a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Java:-Muslim-violence-against-statues-of-other-religions-23064.html" target="_blank">Jakarta (AsiaNews)</a> — The Islamic Defender Front (FPI) launched an appeal on its website on 29 September 2011 with an order to destroy all “un-Islamic” statues in the country, above all those in public places. FPI members were asked to take a stance against the making of statues that Islam does not approve. The request to reject un-Islamic statues was extended to other Indonesian Muslim groups. The appeal follows a controversy in Purwakarta (West Java) where hundreds of hard-line Muslims destroyed puppet statues representing mythological figures used in traditional theatre in the city’s downtown. Purwakarta mayor had offered the puppets used in traditional theatre to represent a more “native” Indonesian identity. However, for Muslim fundamentalists, the puppet statues were “religiously wrong”. On 18 September, hundreds of Muslims destroyed a number of them (see Mathias Hariyadi, “<a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Islamic-fundamentalists-in-Java-target-puppet-statues-22681.html" target="_blank">Islamic fundamentalists in Java target puppet statues</a>,” in AsiaNews, 20 September 2011). The FPI also denounced the existence of several “profane” statues, like a big dragon in Singkawang, in West Borneo Province, and a statue of Buddha in Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, which are still standing despite the hostility of Muslim radicals. </blockquote>

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