 A National Police plan to fingerprint all students of Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) across the country as well as their alumni has irritated the head of a major Muslim organization. Northwestern University Nadhlatul Ulama (NU)'s East Java chapter head Ali Maschan Moesa said that he was annoyed with the plan as it put Islamic students under suspicion, and presumed they posed a danger to state security. "To tell you the truth, I feel very insulted since all NU members fully support the country's sovereignty," Ali told The Jakarta Post on Monday. | "Humiliated, even. And you wouldn't like me when I'm humiliated." |
The plan to collect fingerprints from Islamic students was one a police strategy to anticipate terrorist acts in the nation, which has seen a series of deadly bomb attacks over the past several years committed by militants, some of whom studied in Islamic boarding schools. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has approved the plan saying that the police would merely be collecting data for future use, although there has been speculation that the country's most wanted man, Noordin M. Top, might be hiding in one of the boarding schools. |