Do something about radicals, Gus

Do something about radicals, Gus

Mafoot Simon, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

If not for the gravity of the situation, Gus Dur's recent remarks about Islamic radicals in Indonesia would have been amusing.

While trying to downplay Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's comments about the extent of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia, former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid gave a figure probably closer to the real situation.

Lee told the Far Eastern Economic Review recently that Internet intercepts indicated that there were about 100 radical groups in Indonesia with a total of several thousand members.

Criticizing Lee for being "wrong and naive" about the real situation, Gus Dur said, seemingly without any self-irony, that the actual number is small -- "about 50,000".

He should know. After all, he's not only the former president of a country with the biggest Muslim population in the world, but also head of the biggest Islamic group there -- the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Also, by his own admission in a column in the Indonesian evening daily Sinar Harapan last Wednesday, he has a good feel of the Indonesian ground: He speaks directly to "the people" all over Indonesia "three, four times a day".

He says he realizes that he is making a grave accusation when he calls SM Lee's remarks "wrong and naive", especially since they come from someone of SM Lee's caliber.

But here is his concern, he says: That because of Lee's caliber, his statements will be read by many, including influential Western policy makers.

For that reason, he said, Lee's statement must be corrected, and immediately, lest it is taken as the "truth" by them.

What is worrying though is that Gus Dur seems to suggest that it is all right to have 50,000 radicals out of a total Muslim population of 200 million in Indonesia.

He says: "The reality is the radical Islamic movement is not big, but it is willing to use force... Let's say the group is made up of 50,000 members. This figure is meaningless compared to 200 million moderate Muslims in Indonesia."

Abdurrahman should know that whatever the numbers: 10,000 or 50,000 they are 10,000 or 50,000 too many.

One cannot help but wonder if Gus Dur is choosing to ignore the carnage and havoc a small group of misled people can do to properties and lives.

The thousand deaths in the New York bombing were caused by a mere handful of people. Closer to home, the Bali blast killed no perpetrator but hundreds of innocents.

How much damage and carnage can 50,000 radicals inflict, Abdurrahman?

The former Indonesian leader may not be fond of Singapore: When he was President in 2000, he launched into a tirade against Singapore and its leaders, criticizing them for not being sensitive to Indonesia's needs and for not doing enough to promote the country's interest within ASEAN and the larger international community.

Those remarks could have been excused as political theatrics, but today he is no longer a politician fighting for survival. What he has said about the radicals show an ignorance about the threat of terror in the region.

So, what exactly is Abdurrahman up to?

Early in the week he made those remarks Abdurrahman also told reporters that he was willing to be nominated as President in the 2004 election if he got the blessings of, or was asked by, four kiai sepuh (senior ulama) in NU, the organization he leads.

There are many kiai sepuh, he said. And then he proceeded to name four.

"If they ask me, I will abide," he said.

Let's hope Gus Dur, who once admitted he is crazy about wayang (shadow puppet), is not playing one now. It is dangerous.

Such talk runs counter too to the efforts by the Indonesian authorities to clip the wings of radicals and extremists in their midst.

And it might even encourage the disbanded Laskar Jihad and the Defenders of Islam Front (FPI) -- the two strongest radical groups -- to rise again.

In fact, it might not be entirely wrong to conclude that the emergence of such groups in the first place was possible because mainstream and established leaders such as Gus Dur did not take their threat seriously.

As an Indonesian analyst friend puts it: The rise of IslamLib in Indonesia was caused by the reluctance of established Muslim organizations like the NU and the Muhammadiyah to speak up against such extreme groups.

A fatwa has been issued for the head of one key member of IslamLib -- and a senior member of the NU -- Islamic scholar Ulil Abshar-Abdalla.

Abdurrahman's remarks might also blur the line between mainstream Islamic groups and those on the fringes.

Worse, it might lend credence to the theory that this is a clash between civilizations -- between the Judeo-Christian West and Islam, an idea that seems to be gaining currency in the United States.

Abdurrahman should know that as an influential religious leader, he should do something -- and be seen to do something -- to help curtail radical groups.

By doing nothing constructive, he might just send the wrong signal to these very radicals whose agenda remain fixed on an unholy war.

Abdurrahman blames the Indonesian government for being "afraid" of the Islamic radical groups.

But should it not also be the role of the president of the biggest mainstream Muslim organization to chip in?