Following further verification, the final count is only 30 people. Since the organization is outlawed, its membership is not recognizedBandung (ANTARA) - Some 30 identified followers of the outlawed Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) in Bandung District, West Java, are currently under police supervision, Bandung District Police Head Senior Commissioner Kusworo Wibowo stated.
Wibowo then disproved earlier reports made by the local National and Political Unity Agency that declared NII had three thousand followers in the district.
"Following further verification, the final count is only 30 people. Since the organization is outlawed, its membership is not recognized," Wibowo stated here on Friday.
After identifying the NII followers, the police will continue exerting efforts to dispel radical thoughts espoused by them to encourage them to renounce their loyalty to NII and "return" to Indonesia, he noted.
"(We want to make them) respect each other's (beliefs) to prevent unwanted incidents," the police head stated.
Meanwhile, local National and Political Unity Agency Head Adjat Sudrajat admitted that the earlier data of three thousand NII members is false, as the information was based solely on a former NII member's claim.
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"There is a data error related to the intelligence division. The data claims originated from an NII local leader and is based only on verbal testimony," Sudrajat remarked.
In concert with the Bandung District Police, he affirmed the agency's commitment to monitoring NII activities to prevent the illegal organization from influencing more residents to join them.
The agency will also provide assistance and vocational training for former NII members, who have declared their loyalty to Indonesia, he noted.
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"They will receive vocational training. We will cooperate with the local manpower affairs office to help them develop a special skill for their living," Sudrajat remarked.
Earlier, on Monday (May 30), some 50 former NII members in Cileunyi Sub-district, Bandung District, had renounced their oath to NII and reaffirmed their loyalty to Indonesia.
The 50 former NII members then committed to preserving Indonesia based on the national ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
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Translator: Bagus Ahmad R, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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