By: Dhita Karuniawati )*
Radicalism and terrorism are currently still vulnerable to spreading among society, especially in educational environments. Young people who are currently studying are easy targets for being infiltrated by radical doctrines or teachings, because they are not yet able to think maturely and are easily influenced. This radical ideology clearly endangers the survival of the younger generation, as it can trigger acts of terrorism and national division.
Therefore, radical movements and terrorism need to be watched out for as a real threat to the nation, especially in the educational environment, both on campuses and schools. Prevention must be carried out comprehensively and start with oneself, family, relatives and the surrounding environment.
The Republic of Indonesia’s National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) implements the prevention of radicalism through peaceful school programs in several regions in Indonesia. The peaceful school program is one of the priority programs initiated by the Head of BNPT RI Commissioner General of Police Mohammed Rycko Amelza Dahniel in 2024.
This program has been implemented in Palu City, Central Sulawesi, and Serang City, Banten. The peace school program was also implemented at the Darussalam Islamic Boarding School, Blokagung, Banyuwangi, East Java, on 15-16 May 2024.
One of the series of peace school activities is teacher training in order to foster the resilience of educational units in rejecting intolerance, violence and bullying.
BNPT RI Prevention Director Irfan Idris said that a peaceful school for teachers and students would make them ambassadors of peace. As peace ambassadors, they are expected to play a role in spreading peace ideas in their respective schools, other schools in the surrounding area, and in the community and environment of their region.
Terrorism has nothing to do with religion because in any country there is terrorism in the name of religion. In Myanmar the terrorists are Buddhists, in New Zealand the terrorists who shot at Muslims who were praying on Friday were Christians. Likewise, in India the terrorists are Hindu. Because Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, most terrorists in Indonesia are Muslim. No religion of any kind promotes terrorism. There are elements in that religion.
Irfan explained that in the future, BNPT will prepare indicators for peaceful schools, for example, there will be no bullying, acts of violence and intolerance in the school. Apart from that, his party will ask related ministries, such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religion, to hold such activities in stages from lower education to higher education.
The peaceful school program must continue to be made viral and expanded, so that it can minimize acts of intolerance in schools, which can lead to acts of terror favored by radical terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Kemenko Polhukam) is strengthening coordination between elements of society and government agencies to prevent/anticipate the spread of terrorism in East Java. This effort was carried out by holding discussions between elements of society at one of the universities in East Java.
Assistant Deputy for Human Rights Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Brigadier General Rudy Syamsir said that this discussion was relevant and crucial considering that universities are a place for the young generation who have great potential to build the nation, but are also vulnerable to being exposed to radical ideology.
According to him, the world of education, in this case the campus, is a place for young intellectuals to provide ideas and share views on a problem. These conditions can make radical ideology easily enter the campus world because students there have a high desire to learn new things. If this is not prevented from the start, the campus could become a major nest that produces radical thoughts and is prone to giving birth to terrorists.
At the same time, the Head of the BNPT Apgakum Protection Sub-Directorate, Suroyo, said that these conditions mean that campuses must have a special reporting forum to complain about activities that involve terrorism. This must be done by the campus environment as a form of action to create and develop a forum for reporting acts of violent extremism that lead to terrorism on campus in vulnerable areas integrated with witness, victim and reporter protection mechanisms. With these efforts, it is hoped that the world of education and government can become a place to filter young people from radicalism so that they do not fall into the world of terrorism.
Through these various steps, BNPT is actively trying to overcome the seeds of intolerance in schools and campuses and create an educational environment that is safer, more inclusive and free from attitudes of extremism and radicalism. In this way, BNPT can increase their awareness of the negative impacts of these behaviors, as well as provide them with the skills and knowledge to handle conflict peacefully.
Prevention programs run by the government together with youth partners can create a platform for the younger generation to be actively involved in fighting intolerance and violence in educational environments. The most important thing about this program is how to break the chain and cadre the formation of intolerant and radical groups that take advantage of the younger generation.
*) The author is a contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute