Jakarta, (Antara) - Deputy Chairman of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Farouk Muhammad has deplored the performance of Indonesian intelligence forces in preventing a violent clash from occurring in Aceh Singkil District, Aceh Province.
On Tuesday, a violent clash erupted that resulted in a church being burnt to the ground by hundreds of stick-wielding men in Aceh Singkil.
"I regret the intelligence failure in detecting the incident. For me, our intelligence forces missed it," Muhammad noted in a statement on Thursday.
He remarked that the intelligence forces should have anticipated and detected the direction and movement of large masses of people and should have thwarted the anarchic and destructive actions.
He believed that the local government and security forces should have taken persuasive steps with regard to churches deemed illegal, so that vigilantism would have been averted.
"The incident in Aceh Singkil is feared to harm the spirit of tolerance and diversity in Indonesia," the DPD deputy chairman remarked.
Muhammad then called on the government and security forces to act swiftly to prevent the impact of such an incident, so that it does not affect the security and stability in Aceh.
National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti stated at the Aceh Singkil police office before community and religious leaders on Wednesday that the police had secured dozens of people suspected to be involved in the clash.(*)