By: Silvia. A. Ultimate )*
Intolerance, radicalism and terrorism are enemies of the Indonesian nation because they are not in accordance with the country’s basic ideology and consensus. Large-scale intolerance and radicalism in the form of hate speech, if not stopped immediately, will ultimately damage political stability and national security.
The spread of fake news, radicalism and hate speech will certainly increase as the 2024 election campaign begins. The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo), and the National Police have formed an election desk to strengthen supervision of campaigns on social media.
The government’s policy in anticipating and preventing the dangers of intolerance, radicalism and terrorism is to maintain a balance between hard and soft approaches. To prevent this or implement a soft approach, it needs to be improved to achieve long-term goals.
One of the efforts that continues to be made is the deradicalization policy. Deradicalization efforts are not enough to just target former terrorist convicts, the dangers of intolerance and radicalism to the unity of the country need to be fully socialized to the public.
Deradicalization is a non-violent way to prevent radical thinking by improving various aspects, for example understanding of religion, justice and economics that involve society. Deradicalization efforts focus more on the education of students and female students because they are psychologically unstable (searching for identity) and are easily indoctrinated to become fanatics.
Schools teach to shape character in conditions of good values and intolerance in the world of education, and education must rid the nation’s character of intolerant values. Apart from that, efforts to prevent and respond to intolerance & radicalism in Indonesia require cooperation from all parties, cooperation between ministries/institutions, community organizations (Ormas) and all components of society.
Anticipation of intolerance, radicalism and terrorism must start as early as possible from early childhood education to higher education. Apart from that, efforts that can be made include strengthening religious moderation, which is believed to be able to reduce the threat of radicalism. This is important because elections are often a moment for the rise of radical groups, which can threaten political stability and security.
Former terrorism convict (Napiter) Ali Fauzi Manzi admitted that there was a threat of extremism and radicalism in the 2024 elections. Evidently, there were arrests of 59 suspected terrorists in Jakarta, Bekasi and Poso by Densus 88 during October 2023. Ali added that the threat of radicalism was always there, even though many were suspected. terrorist who has been arrested by Densus 88.
Deputy for Enforcement and Capacity Building of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Inspector General Ibnu Suhaendra invited students from the State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, to be critical of reading books that may be infiltrated by radicalism narratives. It is hoped that with a critical attitude towards reading books, students who are the younger generation will have the power to deter and prevent radicalism and terrorism.
He conveyed this during a general discussion of evidence from books on terrorism crimes which was carried out together with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta State Islamic University (UIN), in Yogyakarta. Ibnu explained that the General Discussion event criticizing Aman Abdurrahman’s book was a follow-up to the court decision which stated that confiscated books that had radical terrorist content were subject to analysis and study.
The target of radicalism is the younger generation who are considered to be unstable, still in the process of finding their identity, and close to social media technology. Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta Moch. Sodik assessed that students’ concern for reading books will increase and be accompanied by a critical mindset.
Cilacap Police Chief, Commissioner Pol Fannky Ani Sugiharto also invited all components of society to prevent intolerance and radicalism, in order to create a social security and order situation that remains conducive, safe and peaceful, especially in the Cilacap Regency area. Moreover, we have now entered the election season which can increase the political temperature.
National insight is a deep understanding of cultural identity and the values inherent in a nation. These four pillars can be called support or support so that people feel safe, comfortable and prosperous, and are protected from all kinds of disturbances or disasters. The four pillars are first Pancasila, second the 1945 Constitution, third NKRI, and fourth Bhinneka Tunggal Ika.
Another way to prevent the spread of radicalism is to provide space for positive activities and foster love for the country. One of them seems to have been carried out by a number of pupils and students in Banjarmasin who took part in the Anak Bangsa Music Action art performance, Asik Bang in the Taher Square culinary area, Banjarmasin. This activity is an effort by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) through the South Kalimantan Terrorism Prevention Coordination Forum (FKPT) to prevent the younger generation from being exposed to radicalism and terrorism using an artistic approach.
)* The author is from the editorial team of Saptalika Jr. Media
