SBY: Save Our Nation From Radicalization

SBY PRESIDENCY

In a rare acknowledgment that religious-based violence posed a serious threat to the nation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on Indonesians not to rely on the police but to help to stamp out extremism’s spread from inside their communities.

“Our nation faces a continuous and serious threat in terrorism and in horizontal violence, ” he said on Thursday while addressing a National Development Planning Meeting in Jakarta.

Horizontal violence, a term often used in reference to student bullying, refers to abuse or aggression by individuals on their peers around them.

Yudhoyono said a rising tide of threats and intolerance were a serious matter that generated a negative impact on everyone and threatened the public’s sense of safety.

“Let us not allow this to happen,” he said. “Everyone has a duty to prevent and overcome this. Let us conduct prevention efforts as early as possible. Terrorism and horizontal violence under various motives should not be just handed to the National Police.”

He urged all regional leaders, down to the smallest units, to actively participate in monitoring the situation and provide early warning of any suspicious activities in their communities.

During the meeting at the Bidakara Hotel, Yudhoyono said another problem facing the nation was the rise in radicalism based on religion and ideology.

“It is the radicalization that is wrong, not the religion,” he said, adding that what was worrying was the effort to radicalize elements of society and promote the use of violence.

His call for vigilance came after a number of incidents during the past six months, when small cells, many with no known links to Jemaah Islamiyah or other large jihadi organizations, have raided police stations and assassinated officers.

Mail bombs have been sent to liberal Muslim activists and an antiterrorism chief, and a suicide bomber targeted a mosque on April 15, a first in the country.

Yudhoyono called on religious leaders to live up to their positions and lead by returning religious teachings to a peaceful path.

Without change, he said, society faced a growing threat, and the nation’s character of tolerance, harmony and peace was at risk.

“This cannot be allowed to go on. We should not be apathetic or passive,” he said.

Commenting on the threat of radicalism posed by the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said public involvement must include preventing the NII’s ideas from spreading.

The group — former members of which were reportedly linked to the foiled Good Friday bombing of a Tangerang church — aims to establish an Islamic caliphate by enlisting the support of educated young Indonesians and sympathizers.

Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said his ministry would review several lessons taught in schools. “We will put an emphasis on nationalism in lessons, such as on citizenship and the Indonesian language,” he said.

He also said any religion lessons would be “revitalized” in coordination with the Religious Affairs Ministry.

“Lessons should not only be interpreted as ideas but must also impact on attitudes,” he said.

The Moderate Muslim Society’s chairman, Zuhairi Misrawi, said that in West Java alone, cases of violence linked to radicalism had increased about 30 percent in 2010 to 80 cases and the trend appeared to continue this year. He pointed out that the rising trend took place under Yudhoyono’s watch, accusing his government of being too permissive toward radical groups.

He said the government’s weak treatment of radical groups had encouraged their growth.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com

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