Moderate Muslims urged to join war on terrorism

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri finally reached out to the country's Islamic mainstream on Monday, urging them to participate in the war against terrorism.

She also assured the country's Muslim community that the on- going antiterrorism drive was not directed against Islam.

"The President is calling on moderate Muslim groups such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah to promote Islam as a peace- loving and cooperative religion, especially in the current war against terrorism," chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (PMII) Nusron Wahid said after a meeting with Megawati Monday.

The PMII is one of the youth-wing organizations of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim-based organization in the country.

"The President also underlines that the Muslim community should not be afraid of the current probe as long as they are not involved in terrorist activities," Nusron said.

Megawati's invitation for moderate Muslim groups was the first attempt to engage the public in fighting against the terrorism that has created havoc for the country's economy with the deadly attacks in the prime tourist destination of Bali on Oct. 12.

It also came amid anxiety among Muslims here following police searches in a number of Muslim boarding schools suspected of having links with suspects in the Bali carnage that killed almost 190 people and injured over 300 others, mostly foreigners.

The searches have provoked strong criticism from some quarters in society, with NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi saying that the police should have shown more courtesy in conducting investigations in these schools.

Earlier, Hasyim, Bishop's Council of Indonesia (KWI) chairman Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) chairman AA Yewangoe, nationalist figure Roeslan Abdoelgani and Muslim scholar Nurcholis Madjid called for an end to propaganda equating terrorism with Islam.

Nusron said that Megawati had given assurance that there was no intention at all from the government of abusing the antiterrorism regulation or to follow any foreign scenarios as suggested by some quarters in the society.

She did admit that the presence of a number of radical religious groups had created problems for her administrations but emphasized that their existence did not warrant the government to abuse the recently unveiled antiterrorism regulations.

"Their numbers are not much, but they could become a pebble in the shoe of the government," Megawati said, referring to their potential to create problems in the country.

Vice President Hamzah Haz also criticized the searches of Muslim schools on Monday, saying that the police should show respect for these places.

"The police should use a different approach when investigating gambling dens and Muslim boarding schools," said Hamzah, who is also the leader of the country largest Muslim-based party.

"This criticism should provide input for the police in doing their job. Please do not treat places of worship as terrorist hiding places," Hamzah said.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that the police would always act ethically in conducting searches in Muslim schools.

"All places in the country come under our jurisdiction, except some areas belonging to foreign diplomatic missions," Da'i remarked.

"So we have the right to conduct searches in the Muslim schools, but of course we take ethics into account when we do so," the four-star general said.

He further said that the investigation would continue to be transparent so that the public could scrutinize the work of the police.

Despite of the criticism, Bali investigative team leader Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika said on Monday that the police would conduct more searches in Muslim boarding schools to find the perpetrators of the bombing.

Nusron underlined that his organization endorsed the President's view on Islamic radicalism, including the insistence on inclusion of sharia in the state's life, as a worrying phenomenon in the country.

"We believe that religion is the private sphere and the state is the public sphere. Forcing the inclusion of shariah in the state's live would jeopardized this distinction," he said.