Jakarta (ANTARA News) - In its search for comprehensive ways to fight terrorism beyond mere police actions, the government is considering the role Islamic boarding schools can play in countering the misleading religious teachings.

"Such misleading teachings usually inspires or motivate young men to join radical groups," Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad`s birthday at the Darussalam Watucongol boarding school in Central Java last Sunday.

Islamic boarding schools (Pesantren) and Islamic primary schools (Madrasah) could become "shields" against the ideology of terrorism in the country.

"We have to pursue various ways, including approaches to Pesantren and Madrasah in order to build fortresses against terrorism through these educational institutions," he said.

The religious affairs ministry had already begun making such efforts with positive results, Suryadharma said. The ministry had assigned clerical staff to disseminate the correct interpretation of Islamic teachings to the public through the Madrasahs and Pesantrens.

"They explain which parts of prevailing popular Islamic beliefs are true Islamic teachings. For instance, in Islam, the enemy in a war is alwys clearly defined, the target of an attack is always clear," he said, adding that the enemy and target of terrorists were not clear.

"The victims of the terrorists so far have been Muslims and innocent Muslims at that," he said.

He also said that the terrorists had damaged Islam because Islam does not teach terrorism, and Muslims` struggle does not rely on violence.

"The terrorists carry out their activities in the name of Islam but they actions actually harm Islam," the minister said.

He said terrorist networks now were well organized, their movements properly financed and there was a pattern in the choice of targets, and therefore the security forces should intensify their efforts to eradicate them.

On the occasion, the minister also said his ministry was preparing religious education programs for former terrorists who had been convicted and served their jail terms to help return to the true Islamic teachings.

He hoped that the religious education program for the prisoners could begin to be carried out later in 2010.

The ex-terrorists should also be made to take part in dialog forums where their knowledge and understanding of Islam could be expanded and not be limited only to certain sources, the minister added.

Sharing Suryadharma Ali`s view was Syafii Anwar, director of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism, who said the religious affairs ministry should formulate a variety of ways and approaches to be applied to Islamic boarding schools.

"However anyone can become a terrorist if he or she is being indoctrinated with a certain perspective. Economics is not the only factor in the making of a terrorist," he said.

The aspect of pluralism and human rights in the curriculum was important and needed to be done more often in the country. These issues should be given more emphasis at Islamic boarding schools, he said.

According to him, the reluctance of Islamic boarding schools to focus on pluralism and tolerance was a major obstacle to changing the mind-set of their students, leaving open the road to radicalism and conservatism.

"Such an educational focus would be very useful in changing the mind-set of the pesantren community," he said, adding many clerics at the helm of pesantrens were often resistant to attempts to teach pluralism at their schools.

These clerics frequently accused the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of being behind efforts to introduce the subject, he said adding radicalism could be brought about because of misleading perceptions of a certain religious tenet.

In the meantime, Sue Gunawardena, IRFC program manager, opined the government had a huge role in educating its citizens about multiculturalism and religious tolerance.

If the government failed to uphold such issues, she said, then non-governmental organizations and the media should take over the role of supporting pluralism.

Conservatism and radicalism have long been believed to be at the heart of terrorism, including the recent suicide bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta.

Many people have pointed out that the two suicide bombers and their suspected accomplices are thought to have graduated from a pesantren in Ngruki, Central Java, founded by hard-line Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

The Organization of Retired Army Soldiers (PPAD) was reported to have demanded that the government step up efforts to root out terrorism in the country.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Soerjadi, PPAD?s chairman, said terrorist attacks would not stop until the government successfully addressed the root causes of such attacks.

"The government should be more active in finding out the triggers behind such acts and how to solve the problem in the future," Soerjadi said, adding a variety of ways and approaches to be applied by the religious minister to prevent Pesantren from being used by terrorists were highly welcomed.

The retired general also voiced concern over the national security situation, adding that the recent bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels and the spate of armed attacks in Timika, Papua, were not merely part of some domestic conflict.

"There is foreign involvement," Soerjadi was quoted by the JakartaGlobe as saying. Nevertheless, he also declined to point to any particular countries, saying only that these incidents should be handled simultaneously by the military and intelligence agencies.

(T. E002/S026)

Editor: Suryanto
COPYRIGHT © 2012

Comment
Send Comment