Students 'must shun hard-line schools'<\/p>\n
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post\/Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab has asked
\nIndonesian students not to study in overseas schools and colleges
\nthat promote hard-line Islamic doctrine for fear they may become
\nextremists.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want young Indonesians, who have already been
\neducated in an atmosphere that encourages tolerance, to enroll at
\nfalse educational institutions overseas. This results in Muslim
\nextremists and hard-liners,\" he told hundreds of students at
\nSunan Pandanaran Islamic boarding school in Sleman regency,
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Alwi said that to avoid that, the government would survey
\nforeign institutions to identify which of them were hard-liners.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, this will cut the network of Islamic hard-line
\neducation,\" the minister added.<\/p>\n
At the moment, Alwi said, there are many graduates of
\nIndonesian Islamic boarding schools who have pursued their
\neducation in countries like Yemen.<\/p>\n
\"I will go to Yemen in the near future to attend the
\nunification of South and North Yemen. During the visit, I will
\nuse the opportunity to look for good educational institutions
\nthere,\" Alwi added.<\/p>\n
His statement came in relation to the devastating terrorist
\nattacks that occurred in Bali and Jakarta, blamed on Muslim
\nextremists linked to the regional terror organization Jamaah
\nIslamiyah (JI).<\/p>\n
Some of the convicted suspects had studied in Afghanistan,
\nPakistan and Malaysia. Police are currently hunting two top JI
\nmembers, Azhari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd, accused of
\nmasterminding the 2002 Bali blasts and the JW Marriott Hotel
\nattack in 2003.<\/p>\n
Senior JI operative Hambali or Riduan Isamuddin was captured
\nby United States authorities for his alleged key role in regional
\nterror attacks.<\/p>\n
Indonesia-born Hambali, who was also linked to Osama bin
\nLaden's Al-Qaeda, was a student at an Islamic institution in
\nKarachi, Pakistan.<\/p>\n
His younger brother and fellow student in Pakistan, Rusman
\nGunawan alias Gun Gun, was arrested by Pakistani authorities in
\n2003 along with five other students, on suspicions of involvement
\nin terrorist activities.<\/p>\n
Alwi, who is also a prominent Muslim scholar, said the
\ngovernment was concerned about directing young Indonesians toward
\ngood education.<\/p>\n
Aside from foreign institutions, the minister also expressed
\nconcern over Indonesian Islamic boarding schools that lean
\nheavily toward extremism.<\/p>\n
\"What is needed is an educational system, which is able to
\nportray Islam as a religion that can give protection instead of
\nincite terror, and a religion that emphasizes good intentions and
\nvirtues,\" Alwi added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-must-shun-hard-line-schools-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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