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Selasa, 19 April 2011

Indonesia needs holistic approach to terrorism

Again and again, bombs have exploded in this country. On Friday, a suicide bomber, 31-year-old Muchammad Syarif, killed himself and wounded at least 26 people when his bomb exploded inside a mosque at Cirebon Police Headquarters in West Java. The bomb went off just as the Friday prayers were about to begin.

This latest suicide attack suggests that terrorism in Indonesia is becoming invincible and unpredictable.

Last month, book bombs were sent to various places targeting individuals. Now, the targets are not just churches, foreigners, moderate Muslims and sect members, but also mosques.

As a matter of fact, efforts to target mosques have occurred before, first at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta in 1999 and then at a Yogyakarta mosque in 2000.

In recent years, Indonesia has been rocked by a series of bombings staged by the regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

The last was carried out by two suicide bombers who killed seven people at two luxury Jakarta hotels in July 2009.

The suicide attack on the Cirebon Police mosque reminds us that a holistic approach to terrorism is of paramount significance.

Relying too much on the state apparatus such as police to arrest the perpetrators and masterminds of this cruel assault and impose the death sentence on them is far from adequate. The approach should at least entails the following measures:

First, it is of urgent importance to pass the new intelligence bill due to public potshots at its toothlessness. Continued violence, bomb threats and suicide bombing befalling this country have been clear signs of our slow counterterrorism drive. Both the House of Representatives and the government should arrive at meeting of minds and scrap controversial points.

Monitoring, for instance, is necessary only to gather information on suspicious individuals and designate particular networks or organizations as terrorist groups when conditions are met.

The state intelligence agency must not lose its fight against both physical and symbolic terrorism campaigns. Additional funds for intelligence agencies for their work will help the government work more effectively.

However, the control of the intelligence organization by the House and civil society is no compromise. Ignoring arbitrary and extensive monitoring of targeted individuals or groups means an act of infringement upon one’s privacy, which is unconstitutional.

The scrutiny of citizens’ phone conversations, email correspondence and articles posted on Internet community boards, by police, the prosecution and the state spy agency should not be intensified just because a series of bombings has rocked this country recently.

Second, the police and state spy agency must not look for scapegoats and become distrustful of Muslim groups, but work with them instead.

The terror attack on a mosque strongly indicates that Islam is not compatible with terrorism, but is being hijacked.

Defeating terrorism is not possible using only a traditional security approach.

All steps must be taken, including the curbing of dangerous ideologies that help spread the message of terrorism to hearts and minds.

Hence, antiterrorism efforts must involve civil society groups, in the context of resisting the spread of terror ideology.

Many groups in Indonesia that are vulnerable to such ideologies can be infiltrated and changed only by organizations like the NU, Muhammadiyah and other Muslim organizations, rather than the police.

While acknowledging that Islam is not terrorism and terrorism is not Islam, longer-term solutions can be oriented toward ostracizing radicalism and promoting tolerance.

Strong and continued rejection of such ideas in mosques and schools should be carried out extended to all places of worship.

Mosques and Islamic boarding schools must be made front lines in the battle against terrorism. Didn’t Prophet Muhammad say that any Muslims inciting hatred against non-Muslims were not his ummat (followers)?

Third, it is crucial for police to get groups of people involved in combating acts of terrorism. The police and universities may hold regular training and meetings involving youth organizations, school teachers and neighborhood leaders on how terrorists act and move within society.

The public might be introduced to a “nomad strategy”, which is used by terrorists to keep themselves in disguise.

People may take initiatives to be more vigilant in monitoring their areas for suspicious activities through intensifying their community-based security systems (Siskamling) to deter terrorists from establishing base camps.

However, it is not necessarily about being aware of new faces in their neighborhoods, but also old residents acting suspiciously or limiting their interactions with their neighbors.

Fourth, increasing the prosperity of the people is major key to fighting terrorism. The longer-term fight against terrorism, however, will be to continue economic growth and to improve living standards.

If the poor and lower income groups, which are the main recruiting pools for terrorists, see that they have a bright future and hope, they will be less likely to be attracted to the militant doctrine. Poverty is a weakness that terrorists are only too eager to exploit.

It is no secret that suicide bombers are generally from a low-income background. Besides executing the hard approach of using the security to combat terrorists, the soft approach of offering a better future for the poor is equally important in efforts to root out the menace of terrorism in this country.

The writer, a graduate of University of Canberra, teaches politics and culture at Andalas University, Padang.

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