Students 'must shun hard-line schools'

Students 'must shun hard-line schools'

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab has asked
Indonesian students not to study in overseas schools and colleges
that promote hard-line Islamic doctrine for fear they may become
extremists.

"We don't want young Indonesians, who have already been
educated in an atmosphere that encourages tolerance, to enroll at
false educational institutions overseas. This results in Muslim
extremists and hard-liners," he told hundreds of students at
Sunan Pandanaran Islamic boarding school in Sleman regency,
Yogyakarta.

Alwi said that to avoid that, the government would survey
foreign institutions to identify which of them were hard-liners.

"Hopefully, this will cut the network of Islamic hard-line
education," the minister added.

At the moment, Alwi said, there are many graduates of
Indonesian Islamic boarding schools who have pursued their
education in countries like Yemen.

"I will go to Yemen in the near future to attend the
unification of South and North Yemen. During the visit, I will
use the opportunity to look for good educational institutions
there," Alwi added.

His statement came in relation to the devastating terrorist
attacks that occurred in Bali and Jakarta, blamed on Muslim
extremists linked to the regional terror organization Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI).

Some of the convicted suspects had studied in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Malaysia. Police are currently hunting two top JI
members, Azhari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd, accused of
masterminding the 2002 Bali blasts and the JW Marriott Hotel
attack in 2003.

Senior JI operative Hambali or Riduan Isamuddin was captured
by United States authorities for his alleged key role in regional
terror attacks.

Indonesia-born Hambali, who was also linked to Osama bin
Laden's Al-Qaeda, was a student at an Islamic institution in
Karachi, Pakistan.

His younger brother and fellow student in Pakistan, Rusman
Gunawan alias Gun Gun, was arrested by Pakistani authorities in
2003 along with five other students, on suspicions of involvement
in terrorist activities.

Alwi, who is also a prominent Muslim scholar, said the
government was concerned about directing young Indonesians toward
good education.

Aside from foreign institutions, the minister also expressed
concern over Indonesian Islamic boarding schools that lean
heavily toward extremism.

"What is needed is an educational system, which is able to
portray Islam as a religion that can give protection instead of
incite terror, and a religion that emphasizes good intentions and
virtues," Alwi added.