JAKARTA. A rainbow group of protesters carrying the same tagline of “Indonesia-without-the-FPI,” rallied at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Tuesday afternoon, demanding the government take stern measures on the hard-line group Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), known for its notoriety in easy resort to violence against minority groups.

“Happy Valentine, Rizieq!” one of the protesters, Helga Worotitjan said, addressing Rizieq Shihab, the leader of the FPI.

“We are not demanding for FPI disbandment, we are just against their violence act,” said Tunggal, another protester during the protest.

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She felt that FPI’s violence act had gone too far. She also regretted that Indonesian government took no action in dealing with the hardliner’s violence.

“It seems like they have immunity” she added.

Tunggal was also afraid that more hard-liners would imitate FPI’s violent approach because the authorities never imposed legal sanction on them.

After singing national anthem “Indonesia Raya” as an opening for the demonstration, the participants then yelled “Indonesia is more peaceful without the FPI. No violence.”

The protest took a violent twist when one of its coordinators, Bhagavad Sambada, was attacked by an unidentified man. The assailant grabbed one of the protest banners and trampled on it, infuriated many protesters.

Six men were taken into custody following the scuffle.

Police also arrested two more people who allegedly brought weapons when the demonstration nearly ended at 06.00 p.m.

“They don't belong to the protesting group,” said Ari Nughraha, a participant of the demonstration who witnessed the arrest was quoted by Antara.

The movement which was promoted via social media like Twitter and Broadcast Blackberry Messenger managed to gather around 100 participants.

Among the participants are some prominent figures like movie director Hanung Bramantyo, actress Jajang C. Noer and writer Ayu Utami. (riz/dmr, The Jakarta Post)