Experts warn of underground extremist movement

Experts warn of underground extremist movement

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Experts underscore the need for other hard-line groups to follow
in the footsteps of Laskar Jihad, which has dissolved itself, but
warn that it could by no means result in the end of violence.

Noted sociologist Satjipto Rahardjo said Laskar Jihad's
initiative should set the trend for other groups in the wake of
the Bali bombing, which killed nearly 200 people on Oct. 12.

"After the carnage in Bali, Indonesians share the same feeling
that they will no longer condone acts of violence in the name of
religion. This is enough to curb the role and existence of hard-
line groups," Satjipto told the Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He said Laskar Jihad or other radical groups could spark a
latent movement once they disbanded their groups, but due to
people's rising awareness of terrorist activities, Indonesia
would be able to deal with radical groups' activities.

"Basically, the presence of hard-line groups is in
contradiction with the moderate, peaceful manner of the
Indonesian people. Indonesians are not radical by nature," he
said.

But political analyst Firiani Sophiaan Yudoyoko and
sociologist Ida Ruwaida of the University of Indonesia warned the
breakup of hard-liners would transform them into underground
movements due to their strong doctrine and ideology.

"They're very radical and indoctrinated. If they dissolve
their organizations due to external pressure or the arrest of
their leaders, it is very likely they will move underground,"
Firiani said.

She said Laskar Jihad might be dissolved to escape accusations
that it was behind a slew of violent attacks in the country, but
its members would maintain the organization's doctrines and
ideals.

She noted that as long as the country failed to establish a
united national character, violence would recur in the country.

"After reform, it became clear that everybody wanted to
achieve their own goal, rather than build the nation," she said.

"Even autonomy is misunderstood by locals, who think they can
issue regulations for their regions and ignore those coming from
the central government."

She urged the government to sponsor a dialogue to build the
national character in a bid to maintain the country's unity.

"However, don't start in the same way as former president
Soeharto, who inculcated people with the state ideology,
Pancasila, to control them," she said.

Ida said the dissolution of hard-line groups would only omit
social control of the group's individual members.

"What we can do to recognize them is to closely watch any
violence that appears to conform to a pattern that is their
hallmark. Or, we can identify them from their influence on
political parties or other groups," she said.

After the fall of president Soeharto in 1998, a number of
hardline groups, like Laskar Jihad and the Islam Defenders Front
(FPI) quickly developed mainly due to the government's perceived
inability to provide justice.

Laskar Jihad sent thousands of volunteers to help Muslims
fight Christians in Maluku during three years of bloody sectarian
conflict there. FPI took the law into its own hands by attacking
nightclubs and discotheques with impunity until the police grew
in confidence recently.

Muslim scholars have hailed the dissolution of Laskar Jihad,
saying Muslim radical groups had tarnished the image of Islam in
Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the
world.