Islam radicalism and national security

Islam radicalism and national security

Sutanto
Jakarta

Although radicalism is alien to the character of various
religions in Indonesia, practices of radicalism are not alien in
Indonesia's history. In terms of national security strategies,
there were occasions in which the country's national security was
declared to be under the threats stemming from the radicalism of
right-wing and left-wing extremists. The right-wing extremists
refer to the groups of a particular religion while the left-wing
extremists are associated with communist groups.

Radicalism has also been employed in various rebellions and
separatist efforts recorded throughout the existence of the
unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, such as the
radicalism of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in Madiun, the
DI/TII (Darul Islam/Indonesian Islamic Army) in West Java and
DI/TII in Aceh.

Considering the bomb cases in the past five years, we can
clearly see that most of these terrorist acts were linked with or
committed in the name of religion. This rapid development of
terrorist acts committed by these terrorist groups is inseparable
from the global development of terrorist acts in the world.

In terms of quality, in the sense of how the bomb is exploded,
the terrorists have now opted for the method of suicide bombings,
claimed to be committed in the name of jihad, or the waging of a
holy war.

This change in method has certainly led to a higher level of
danger as it may claim more lives and cause greater damage.

This method is really new and is believed to be copied from
the way adopted by the Palestinian freedom fighters, who are
quite different from the groups of terrorists in Indonesia in
terms of the struggle they are involved in.

At this point, we may pose a rather difficult question: What
actually motivated the suicide bombings in the first Bali bombing
case, at the JW Marriott Hotel, in front of the Australian
Embassy in Jakarta and the second Bali bombing case?

Many of the victims were Indonesians, most of those were
Muslims. Will these suicide bombing cases not be a paradox in
themselves if they and their impacts are associated with the holy
war waged by Muslims?

In this context, it is really very difficult for us to digest
the video statements made by the perpetrators of the suicide
bombings in the second Bali bombing case about their great
conviction that they would die a Muslim martyr in a holy war.
This indoctrination must have been fed to them by the masterminds
of the bombing case to brainwash them in such a way that they
were ready to carry out a suicide bombing. This condition also
reminds us of the level of danger that we may still face because
it is very likely that there is now a new group of suicide
bombers already similarly brainwashed.

In the context of security, certainly this discussion will be
given more focus on various matters related to radical acts in
the form of terrorism inasmuch as quite a lot of attention is now
paid to terrorism at home. A close study of terrorism at home
will undeniably show that various bomb cases occurring in
Indonesia have exerted a highly adverse impact on security and
development efforts.

Indeed, security is not the main factor contributing to
Indonesia's economic depression, but various terrorist acts are
believed to have created an impression of insecurity, the effect
of which will not be conducive to improvements in the country's
investment and tourism climate.

There are also groups that, although they do not resort to
radical or extreme violence or bomb terror, their actions, to a
certain extent, have an impact on security too. For many
Indonesians, things like damaging karaoke bars and other
entertainment centers may not quite affect their daily routines
in general, but expatriates living in Indonesia and foreign
countries may not have a similar perception like the Indonesians.

Quite spectacular bomb cases in several places such as the
first and second Bali bombing cases or the bomb cases at the JW
Marriott Hotel and in front of the Australian Embassy were the
climaxes of terrorist acts that led to a great alarm over
Indonesia's security. If the masterminds of these bomb cases have
intended these terrorist acts to be -- a retaliation -- against
the attitudes and policies adopted by the United States and other
Western countries, which are believed to disadvantage Muslims,
they must have missed the target because the victims were
innocent people, in no way linked with these policies.

Thanks should go to the police officers that have nabbed most
of the perpetrators. Many of them have been taken to court and
sentenced.

The antiterror unit and all the other units of the police have
been doing their utmost to free the country from terrorism.
Despite the praise given to the achievement of the police in
combating terrorism, the police still hope that efforts to
minimize terrorism should not be viewed as the sole
responsibility of the police. Various dimensions in national
problems outside the area of responsibility of the police and
also global problems are believed to also have contributed to
terrorism.

It should be noted that, given the generally unfavorable
condition of the nation at present, the police are facing no
small challenges. Political interests that have gained prominence
in the present era of reform sometimes also lead to various kinds
of difficulty in publicizing the danger of terrorism and in
encouraging the public to participate in dealing with terrorism.

In view of the magnitude of the threat and the potential
losses that terrorist acts, in particular, and other radical
acts, in general, carry with them (without linking them with
religion), our efforts to deal with terrorism should not be
confined to removing only the symptoms.

In our experience in dealing with terrorism so far, the
impression is that the police have only removed the tip of the
iceberg without ever touching the part below the surface, which
will of course surface once the tip is removed, simply because
there are various dimensions of the problems at hand that prevent
this part below the surface from ever being touched at all.

We must reconsider some laws and regulations to prevent and
overcome terrorism, while maintaining human rights in order to
better guarantee the protection of the nation against terrorist
acts.

We need to create global responsibility for the establishment
of a world order based on democracy, justice, mutual respect and
the exercise of human rights. In this way, it is expected that
there will no longer be any feeling of being oppressed, a
condition usually serving as a breeding ground for radicalism.

We must participate, as a government, in nurturing the
development of tolerance in religious life.

We should publicize various problems in an effort to prevent
the development of radicalism and various anti-social acts so
that the solutions to these problems can be found, and that would
include minimizing various unhealthy social conditions that may
trigger the growth of radicalism.

We need to develop a condition that will oppose all forms of
interpretation of religious teachings to justify terrorism or
radical actions.

We must mobilize the nation to participate in and resist acts
of radicalism that harm this society, especially those leaning
towards terrorist acts that are obviously counter-productive to
the nation's great endeavor to improve the well-being of all.

The writer is Indonesia's National Police Chief. This article
is an excerpt of his paper presented in an international
conference on extremist Islam, security issues and economic
activities in Indonesia, held on Dec. 7, 2005 at the Borobudur
Hotel in Jakarta.