Christmas is a time filled with joy, peace and hope for many people around the world. However, unfortunately, not everyone can celebrate Christmas peacefully. The threat of terrorism and increasing intolerance often curb freedoms along with Christmas celebrations. In an effort to create a peaceful and meaningful Christmas, we need to collectively commit to overcoming this challenge.
It is important to understand that we need to respect the cultural, religious, ethnic differences around us. So with tolerance and respect for diversity, we can create a peaceful Christmas and respect the values of pluralism. Especially in this modern era, the truth of news on social media is an important concern for the government because it often provokes the public, especially fake news.
Ahead of Christmas, security forces are intensively conducting outreach to the public regarding the dangers of intolerance and radicalism, especially in the regions. This is in order to minimize the occurrence of acts of radicalism that could disrupt the lead-up to the celebrations and during Christmas worship.
West Kutai Police Chief through Jempang Police Chief, Iptu Sunarto, said that his personnel gave advice to local residents not to be easily provoked by news that was not necessarily true and to be more careful in using social media.
Apart from that, convey to members of the public about the dangers of radicalism or heretical sects, if there are suspicions about these sects, and also always be careful when carrying out activities at night. If you see an act of crime or become a victim of crime, you are expected to immediately report this to the Sector Police.
Personnel appealed to residents to reject radicalism, mutual tolerance between religions, tribes, races, ethnicities and cultures. And we hope that residents will provide information about criminal acts or community upheavals that may occur at any time so that they can be easily detected early to prevent them.
Head of Subdivision PID Bidhumas Polda Bali, AKBP I Made Witaya, said that one of the duties and responsibilities of the National Police Research and Development Center is to conduct research, study and carry out research on the implementation of police duties, both in the operational field and in the field of coaching, which is expected to provide institutional support. to the Police institution in order to support the realization of the transformation towards a Precision Police.
The main focus of this activity is to see how the challenges and efforts of the police and society work together in facing and preventing intolerant attitudes and radicalism.
He also added that intolerance is a behavior or attitude that does not accept differences in the views or beliefs of other people. This can include discrimination, harassment and even violence against individuals or groups who are considered different in terms of religion, ethnicity, gender. Meanwhile, radicalism is an attitude or action that pursues extreme social or political change or by violating laws or norms in society.
Acts of intolerance and radicalism can usually be triggered by various factors such as differences in culture and religious beliefs, discrimination against race and ethnicity, the influence of social media and news, the existence of extreme groups that spread hatred, economic disparities or inequality (poverty) and social factors in society, poor levels of education, identity crises, and individual psychological factors that are vulnerable to radical ideology.
According to the Head of PID Subdivision, the Public Relations function has an important role in preventing intolerance and radicalism. National Police Public Relations has made various efforts to tackle terrorism in Indonesia, starting from creating narratives, publications, viralization, counter opinions to conducting cyber patrols.
In line with this, the security forces collaborated with the Public Relations Division of the East Java Regional Police to emphasize to the public to anticipate and prevent radicalism independently. The supporting factor for prevention is of course the central role of the mass media.
Head of Public Relations of the East Java Regional Police, Commissioner Pol Dirmanto, emphasized that it is important to independently prevent radicalism by instilling a spirit of nationalism, being open-minded and tolerant, being alert to provocation and incitement, networking in peace communities, and joining in peace.
For this reason, Commissioner Dirmanto asked the media crew to play a role in conveying news to provide understanding and advice about the dangers of intolerance, terrorism and radicalism to the public.
Realizing a peaceful Christmas without terrorism and intolerance requires cooperation from all parties . By educating, dialogue, involving the community, strengthening security, and spreading positive messages, we can create a Christmas atmosphere that is safe, peaceful, and full of diversity. In this way, we celebrate Christmas as a moment of unlimited togetherness, living the values of love, and spreading happiness to everyone .
Through social media campaigns, advertising and public activities, we can raise public awareness about the importance of peace and tolerance during the Christmas season. Positive messages that encourage mutual respect and peace can create a supportive atmosphere for all individuals.
