Walking the tightrope

With the United States and other countries in the world, including some of our closest neighbors, beginning to lose their patience, the government now seems ready to make good its pledge to join the world in the fight against terrorism.

One indication of this was a statement this week by State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif, who said the National Police would organize a meeting with the country's leading Muslim religious scholars, or ulemas, to discuss the moves that will have to be taken in a crackdown on terrorist activities.

If terrorism is defined as the use of violence in order to achieve one's goals, then certainly Indonesians have every reason to be concerned by the threat that they and the country are facing from terrorists, be they homegrown or international.

Of the numerous bomb attacks that Jakarta and several other large cities in the country have suffered recently, for example, a few cases appear to have been at least partly resolved. In most cases, however, the thread of the investigation remains as tangled as ever, with the culprits and masterminds still running free.

The reluctance, or in more than a few instances the ill- feeling with which the government's plan to consult the ulemas has so far been met, however, clearly shows the complexity of the terrorist issue as it is perceived in this country. Although Indonesia is not a theocracy, it has the largest Muslim population in the world. And as must by now be well enough known, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Indonesia are a mixture of moderates and so-called abangan -- that is, non-practicing Muslims who know little or only the bare essentials of their professed religion.

Apparently it is the most prominent of these moderate ulemas whom the government intends to consult. As for the more radically inclined among them, the state minister of communications and information says the government will not talk to radical groups, but "(only) to those parts of society who are able to lead us to a certain stand". But singling out the moderates with whom to talk may not be such an easy task.

This is how the situation stands at the moment with regard to the fight against terrorism. Apparently piqued by the repeated U.S. accusations of Indonesia harboring al-Qaeda terrorist cells, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, who is the chairman of the nation's second largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah, and whose moderate Muslim credentials need not be doubted, says he does not believe (the U.S. claims) that Indonesia is a center of terrorism.

Particularly groundless and exaggerated, in the view of most moderate Indonesian Muslims, is the most recent U.S. warning to its citizens to avoid visiting the two Javanese cultural centers of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, because of reported threats against Americans and Westerners.

"Terrorism is here, that's true," says Syafii, "but it has nothing to do with American interests, nor does it have any links with al-Qaeda." Syafii insists that President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her ministers speak up to clarify the government's stand on terrorism, and to prevent public trust in her administration from deteriorating.

More directly to the point, perhaps, was the warning from Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi a few days ago, to the effect that continued U.S. accusations without convincing evidence to back them up could alienate even moderate Muslims from the American cause. Already, warnings similar to those from Muhammadiyah's Syafii and Nahdlatul Ulama's Hasyim have echoed across the country.

In spite of all that has been said, however, there can be no denying that terrorism is a clear and present danger in Indonesia, and could seriously destabilize President Megawati's administration and undermine the country's current democratization drive.

With its Soeharto-era draconian antisubversion law now scrapped, Indonesia is currently working on an antiterrorism law that is to be presented to the House of Representatives shortly. A draft state-of-emergency law tabled by the government months ago could provide the needed basis for the authorities to take action. However that draft was shelved because of strong opposition from the public, which feared the law would misused by security forces to repress dissent.

Obviously, then, the first and most important step the government must take to secure the support it needs in the fight against terrorism is to win back the public's trust, and assure people that this trust will not be abused.

Any assistance the U.S. government can give in this national drive against terrorism, of course, would be greatly appreciated. This the U.S. could do simply by considering its statements more carefully, so as not to shake the political tightrope that Indonesia is now walking.

Whatever the case, let there be no misunderstanding about one fact: The fight against terrorism concerns us all.