"All public elements must unite in addressing radical groups and deny them space lest they propagate their ideology in East Nusa Tenggara," East Nusa Tenggara Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Chairman Abdul Kadir Makarim said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) has set up a terrorist prevention coordination forum in an effort to rid the islands province of terrorism and radicalism.

This forum is expected to cooperate with all parties to put in place a mechanism for early detection of radical ideology making inroads into the province.

In addition, the local government has been collaborating with religious leaders and community leaders, and already has a strong determination to keep NTT safe.

East Nusa Tenggara Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Chairman Abdul Kadir Makarim has said all public elements in the province should unite to resist terrorists and radical groups, and treat them as a common enemy.

"All public elements must unite in addressing radical groups and deny them space lest they propagate their ideology in East Nusa Tenggara," Makarim remarked in Kupang on Wednesday.

He noted that the MUI will always help counteract the radical groups in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.

"We have always stressed the importance of standing in solidarity with the entire society of this region to address radical groups. There should no space left for such groups to spread their ideology in the province," he affirmed.

In the meantime, NTT National and Political Unity Board Chief Sisilia Sona, on a separate occasion, said radical groups found it difficult to survive in the province because they were swiftly detected and made to face decisive action by the government and the law enforcement agencies.

Sona said the local government refused to issue the Certification of Registration (SKT) for radical groups who wanted to enter the province.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu stated that the community must be united in fighting radicalism which harms the interests of the nation.

"We must first weaken radicalism. If we are united, radicalism will be weakened," he said after giving a public lecture at Graha Bela Negara in Garut district, West Java, recently.

If the community is weak and is not united, any kind of radicalism can flourish in the country, he said.

"If we dont care about radicalism, it will become strong," he said.

To weaken radicalism and prevent it from spreading, the public must proactively report any suspicious party to the security authorities, he said.

According to him, radicalism runs counter to the state ideology Pancasila and religious teachings.

The National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) has urged academic communities in various universities in Central Java to play an active role in stemming the spread of radicalism and terrorism.

Speaking at a dialogue, titled "Preventing Radicalism Among Academic Communities at Universities in Central Java," in Semarang on Monday, the agencys chief, Saud Usman Nasution, noted that the academicians were the main frontier responsible for protecting the younger generation, including the people from the university, from being radicalized.

"Through this forum, we call on the academicians to shore up such defenses and put in place early warning systems to safeguard the students from being affected," Nasution remarked.

According to him, terrorism was not a new problem for Indonesia and was rooted in ideology, certain problematic beliefs and misconceptions about the goals they wanted to achieve in life.

The perpetrators of terror acts are pursuing goals that are contradictory to that of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and they could strike anywhere and at any time. Those involved in the acts of terrorism could be anybody, he remarked, adding that several Indonesians had joined the ISIS.

In dealing with this real threat, "sharp bullets," "detention," and "law enforcement" were not the only solutions. Instead, holding a dialogue was also necessary to counter terrorism, he emphasized.

Former terrorist Ali Fauzan Manzi said prisons are often used to recruit terrorists from among the prison inmates.

Former combatant of Jamaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia, now a resource person to act against terrorism, said imprisoned terrorist leaders always used their time in prison to recruit new followers from among the inmates.

"The transformation takes place in prisons. Prisons are a breeding ground for radicals," said Ali, now often asked to speak in public discussions on radicalism in the country.

Those who have been nurturing a certain kind of hatred towards the state or had sympathy with terrorism, would be more radicalized by the time they complete their prison term, he said.

Prison inmates such as thieves and murderers are relatively easily converted into terrorists, especially as character building by the government in prison is not effective, he said.

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics has blocked 477 websites carrying content full of radicalism, pornography or LGBT-related stuff.

The ministrys director of E-Business of the Directorate General of Application and Telematics, Azhar Hasyim, said the decision to block the sites was taken following reports from the community which has been restless due to LGBT-related propaganda, pornography and radicalism.

He said the ministry also blocked Tumblr Blog because it carried a lot of pornographic content.

"We have asked the Internet Service Provider start processing the blocking of 477 sites and Tumblr so that in the next few days, these are no longer accessible," he said.(*)

Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016