29 June 2012

Editorial: Religious Intolerance In Indonesia - Political Lassitude Or Budgetary Constraint?


By Baladas Ghoshal

The recent budgetary rollback aimed at accommodating the swelling fuel subsidies triggered by soaring global oil prices has particularly affected the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT). For the last two years, it has been on the frontline of the battle against growing religious radicalism that often ignites acts of violence. These measures will undoubtedly force the agency to cut down many of its programmes and its operational budget for uncovering terrorist networks, and preventive measures in its campaign to ‘de-radicalise’ government-supported schools and mosques through partnerships with moderate religious leaders and groups. Eventually it would affect Indonesia’s fight against terrorism and radicalism in the future.

But this is only one side of the picture, as the BNPT attempts to curb extremism that is perpetrated by terrorist violence alone; dealing with terrorists alone may not help much. Extremism that breeds terrorism needs to be checked, according to the Wahid Institute, which works towards “a just and peaceful world by espousing a moderate and tolerant view of Islam and working towards welfare for all.” There are extremist groups in Indonesia that are not known to have exploded bombs, but they practice violent moral policing and persecute minorities. A small minority can create havoc when the so-called ‘silent majority’ remains really silent for the fear of being branded as ‘not true Muslims’.

Since the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued its much-criticized ‘fatwa’ banning liberal concepts of Islam, secularism and pluralism, hard-line Muslim elements have been pushing for the eviction of JIL (a cultural complex set up by progressive and moderate Muslims and headed by noted Muslim scholar Ulil Absar Abdalla, who himself received death threats for publishing articles criticizing the conservatism of some Muslim leaders in the country). In the recent years, Indonesian politics has been roiled by an Islamist attempt to label anything deemed sexually arousing as a form of “porno-action.” Even some “pondoks,” or religious boarding schools in Indonesia, have come under the influence of more extremist clerics. Islamists from the Middle East, Pakistan, Bangladesh and ex-Mujahideen have taken control of the mosques and madrassas radicalizing the discourse on religion and trying to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Muslims at the grassroots.

Read the full story at Eusasia Review