REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI) should not just hold meetings or congresses but should also increase its religious and social activities, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the council chairman, has said. "I have always said that we should not become an organization which is busying holding gatherings from congress to congress. We should enhance our religious and social services," the Vice President said in Jakarta on Monday.

The vice president opened the council's national meeting at his office in the presence of a number of ministers. Agreements were signed on the occasion between the DMI and the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Narcotics Agency, and the National Family Planning and Population Agency (BKKBN).

Kalla hoped that the DMI would expand the role and functions of Indonesian mosques from being just places for worship to include social activities, education, health and others. "In the past several weeks, the functions of mosques have been increasing, such as becoming places for people to spend the night. If there is no mosque, it would be difficult to gather a large number of people," the vice president said, referring to the 212 mass prayers held recently.

Many people who came from regions outside Jakarta to participate in the mass prayers last week spent the nights at mosques.

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