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.