Walking the tightrope

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.