Democracy will ease radicalism, analysts say

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Religious fundamentalism has found fertile socio-political grounds over the past year as marked by radical groups like the Islamic Defense Front (FPI) and Jihad Force, Islamic analysts say.

They said in a year-end review that the upwards trend would continue next year but these so called non-mainstream Islam would be more moderate, particularly if the groups were allowed to take part in the democratization process.

"There is nothing to worry about such a phenomenon because radicalism will subside in line with the democratization process," said Ulil Abshar Abdala of the Indonesian Conference on Religions and Peace (ICRP).

The hard-liners were aware that they could win public sympathy if they moderated their views, according to Ulil.

The "mainstream Islamic groups" usually refers to the country's largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, whose main missions are in social, educational and religious development.

Radical groups like Laskar Jihad, FPI and the Indonesian Islamic Youths Movement (GPII) are known for high-profile activities such as raiding entertainment venues, holding street demonstrations against the U.S., sending militia to areas of conflict and threatening to expel Westerners in the wake of U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.

During the autocratic New Order regime of president Soeharto, some Islamic groups, including mainstream organizations, aspired to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state.

Ulil said that after Soeharto's downfall in 1998, followed by more democratic conditions, the groups abandoned their wish to establish an Islamic state and turned to a more realistic approach in pursuing their agenda of making Indonesia Islamic.

"Their idea is no longer how to establish an Islamic state, but how their presence and their ideas were accommodated by the public," said Ulil, a scholar from Nahdlatul Ulama.

Therefore, he suggested that leaders of the groups should be invited to take part in various socio-political discussions and exchange views with people from outside their community.

Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) also agreed that the groups should be invited to take part in the democratization process as it was the only way to make the radical groups realize that their ideas were against the mainstream.

The current transitional period between authoritarian and democratic systems, Syamsuddin said, was a fertile ground for radical groups to show off their existence.

"In an established civil society, I do not think that the groups can exist and be acceptable in the society," he added.

Syamsuddin said that what many people were unaware of was that the radical groups could be used by political interest groups to help achieve their agendas.

"Those who join the radical groups are mostly young Muslims who have no clear ideology, therefore they are easily used for certain missions," Syamsuddin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.