Religious leaders back surveillance on militants<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Religious leaders have thrown their support behind plans to
\nimpose the tight surveillance of a number of districts in West
\nJava -- believed to be home to militants advocating sharia
\n(Islamic law) -- as part of preemptive measures against future
\nterrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the country's second-largest Muslim organization
\nMuhammadiyah Ahmad Sjafii Ma'arif said on Monday that the tight
\nsurveillance was necessary in its attempt to thwart efforts to
\ndestabilize the country's security.<\/p>\n
"I agree with the measures because monitoring the suspicious
\nactivities of citizens is, in fact, part of the police's job," he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
However, Syafii warned that in its campaign against terrorism
\nthe police should uphold the due process of the law. "Persons who
\nare captured for suspected terrorist activities should be
\naccompanied by lawyers and their arrests should be based on
\nevidence," he said.<\/p>\n
Asked if the move would restrict the freedom of certain groups
\nin exercising their religious duties, the noted Muslim scholar
\nreplied with another question: "What does liberty mean if it
\nresults in the suffering of innocent victims of bomb attacks?"<\/p>\n
West Java provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Dadang S. Garnida
\nsaid among the regions to be put under tight surveillance was
\nIndramayu regency, where the affluent Al-Zaytun Islamic Boarding
\nschool has been accused of serving as the ninth regional military
\ncommand (KW9) of outlawed militant movement Darul Islam.<\/p>\n
Police are also keeping close watch over Cianjur, a regency
\nwhose councillors strongly demanded the enforcement of sharia.
\nThe regency is also the home-town of Hambali, born Encep
\nNurjaman, the alleged top operative of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
\nterror group.<\/p>\n
Another regency to be surveilled is the country's most densely
\npopulated province, Majalengka -- home to the radical movement
\ncalled Daor Koning -- which for years campaigned for the
\nestablishment of an Islamic state.<\/p>\n
Dadang said that the police plan to deploy intelligence
\nofficers to gather information from local people about their
\nunderstanding of sharia.<\/p>\n
Under the authoritarian regime of the former president
\nSoeharto, intelligence officers were deployed to spy on the
\nreligious activities of citizens. Intelligence officers -- from
\nboth the police and the Indonesian Army (TNI) -- were present at
\nalmost every religious gatherings, such as Sunday services or
\nFriday prayers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the professor of history at the Jakarta-based
\nSyarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Azyumardi Azra,
\nagreed with Sjafii that the police have the authority to monitor
\nthe activities of individuals.<\/p>\n
"The campaign from the police is tolerable if it is aimed at
\nanticipating future terror attacks," he told the Post.<\/p>\n
He also said the practice of keeping watch over suspicious
\nactivity was common in any country as it constituted part of
\nintelligence services. "The difference is whether they decide to
\nmake it (the surveillance) public or not."<\/p>\n
He said that the practice of religion must be in line with law
\nand order.<\/p>\n
"Once it goes beyond the corridor of law, the police must make
\nefforts to stop it," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/religious-leaders-back-surveillance-on-militants-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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