Muslim and Catholic leaders in Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province, are backing a police call to ban extremist groups in Indonesia.

“Islam does not justify any violent acts committed as a means of dealing with any interreligious disputes in Indonesia,” said Ilham Sanusi, chairman of the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Muslim Scholars Association.

“Abuses in the name of Islam will harm the nation’s image,” he told ucanews.com on Aug. 31.

He was responding to a call by National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to ban extremist groups at an Aug. 30 meeting with several ministers and security officials in Jakarta.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, and State Intelligence Agency chief Sutanto, were among those at the meeting.

Islam respects pluralism Sanusi said.

“I can guarantee there will be no attacks on places of worship or attempts to prevent non-Muslims from worshipping in this province, because religious leaders have good relations,” he said.

Capuchin Archbishop Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun of Pontianak also backed the police call.

“What hard-line groups have done is a serious threat to this nation’s unity,” he told ucanews.com.

There have been 107 recorded acts of violence by extremist groups since 2007, according to police statistics. Most were carried out by the Islamic Defenders Front, the Betawi Council Forum, and the Betawi Youth Front.

The Betawi, are people from Jakarta and are descendents of several ethnic groups who settled in Batavia (the capital’s former colonial name), in the 17th century.

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IS11031.1617