By: Abdul Ghofur)*
Radicalism is still the main threat to the Indonesian nation. The public is also asked to be aware of the spread of radical ideas to the younger generation, including children.
Have you heard of radicalism and terrorism? Radical groups began to enter Indonesia in 1997-1998 and took advantage of the reform order which was full of freedom, having previously been confined by the rules of the new order. They infiltrated and spread their wings more and more as well as guerrillas while looking for new cadres to regenerate.
Radical groups are looking for anyone to become a member, from the elderly to the young. Sadly, recently there has been news about radicalism among children. As many as 15 children in Makassar have been exposed to radicalism. This news is surprising because radical groups have acted viciously by deliberately poisoning the minds of children who are still innocent.
Head of the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Agency, Achi Soleman, stated that the majority of children were exposed to radicalism from their parents. They have been instilled radical understanding in life. Currently these 15 children are under the protection of the Office of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.
Achi Soleman added that he cooperated with many parties. The first is with the anti-terror Densus 88 whose work is to eradicate terrorism and radicalism. The second is with the Department of Education and the Department of Health. His job is to intervene in education and health services. The children will be returned to public schools and their parents educated.
The discovery of radicalism among children certainly shocked the public. They think, how can the children even deliberately feed the teachings of radicalism that is contrary to Pancasila? If young children are familiar with radicalism, their future will collapse, because all they think about is jihad, hatred, and intolerance.
Instead of dreaming of becoming doctors, engineers, or teachers, the children aspire to jihad in Syria or even become bride bombs. If this happened then it would be terrible, because their future would be in chaos. The children should be encouraged to succeed and become ‘people’, not radical cadres who hurt civil society.
When many children are exposed to radicalism, they must be immediately detected and accompanied by a psychologist. The reason is because if it is not addressed immediately, they will become intolerant individuals and always upload SARA issues, even dare to disbelieve in other people. This nation will be damaged when the seeds of the younger generation act deviated.
The parents of the child must be arrested by the anti-terror Detachment 88 if they are proven to transmit radical ideas. They must be held accountable for their actions in prison for ruining the future of their own children and at the same time making future leaders of the nation poisoned by radicalism. Arrests must be made as soon as possible, otherwise in the next 20 years we will have a radical generation.
When the parents are arrested, the children can be protected by the Office of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection and their status as children of the state. With this status, they get protection and allowances to live, as well as go to school and live a decent life without the bad influence of radical parents.
Radicalism among children must be eradicated from upstream to downstream, aka that not only children but also their parents are cured. In one house, they must both be detoxified from radicalism so that they are aware that it is dangerous and can damage the future of the child.
The public must be aware of the spread of radicalism among children because there are not many who become victims. Innocent children must be saved from radicalism and detoxified so as not to be poisoned by radicalism. His parents should also be addressed and made aware that his actions were wrong.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusa Bangsa Institute