It has been a while since the more-exciting-under-Sir-Alex Man United called off their trip to Indonesia in 2009, as JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels were blown up by a terrorist attack within five minutes interval. The Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) was blamed for the devastation that they caused: 8 or 9 dead, over 50 injured, and tens of thousands Mancs supporters heartbroken.
3 days ago, another terrorist attack took place in the heart of Jakarta, where embassies and big western business are located. This time, it is not the JI, rather, the more notorious Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, IS, whatever you like). They even claimed responsibility of the terror. The November Paris attack style, or the barricade style, was brought into play by the 9 perpetrators equipped with bombs, guns, and rifles. Despite the lurking danger, people still gathered in what turned into battleground, with sate and mangoes offered like popcorn at movies. Some even took selfies.
(Had an impression for a moment that people might have thought it was another The Raid sequel in the making.)
Apart from that, we, the Indonesians, may have been used to terrorist attacks. I don’t see why not: Christmas day 2000, Bali 2002 and 2005, Jakarta 2003 and 2009, not to mention other unheralded attacks (with various methods of spreading terror) including the killing of Christian schoolgirls in 2006. It was always the JI and its successors responsible for the successful attacks. The radical organization have prevailed in Indonesia for a long time and had its roots from the Darul Islamiyah (DI) that had carried their cause to oust the secular government of Indonesia and build an Islamic state. The JI itself still wield the same objective.
Just for the record, I don’t put much attention to Middle Eastern politics and am not sure how wide a territory the IS want to acquire. But related to the Jakarta terror, for me it was just them emphasizing their ability to wreak havoc anywhere they want. Their main targets unchanged: western citizens/business, and maybe the security forces (police and army). This was also a chance to show the world how effective their recruitment process is, and that radicalization can brainwash anyone from any social background. But, the attack was minor, nothing more than just gertakan (or threat, can’t find better translation). The 9 perpetrators give an impression to me that they are rookies, low ranked, used to fight in the frontline (the first horde to get killed),and not very tactful with explosives. Some were thought to have failed when handling them, ended up blowing themselves up without hurting anybody else (if you watched the video where people say “Bunuh diri dia! Bunuh diri!” or stuff). I would say that IS has nothing to do with us Indonesians, although Indonesian Bahrun Naim was said to be the planner of the mayhem.
It is surprising how Indonesians, deemed the most tolerant Islamic nation in the world and renowned for the moderate Muslim citizens, can be radicalized and even go to fight in Syria. Around 800-1000 Southeast Asian are said to have gone to Syria, some have come home, some held and sent back by Turkish authorities. Like I said, in my opinion, the IS don’t have certain objective in Indonesia, but they have largely influenced the terrorist groups in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. This can be observed if we look at an example: the Abu Sayyaf Group of the Philippines recording videos in which they hold hostages and demand ransom. The same goes with Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT) in Sulawesi led by Santoso, whose videos may be available on YouTube. But the case is different in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia.
Taking MIT as an example, not only is this radical group threatening the Republic’s government. As a break-off from Jemaah Islamiyah, this group has also terrorize the Sulawesi public by killing Christian schoolgirls and beheading Hindu trans-migrants, spreading sense of intolerance and fear. With MIT pledging bai’yat (I don’t know what it actually means but I guess it’s like ‘I’ll be on your side let’s fight together’) to IS, this will provide them resources needed to wage wars and atrocities, and will only make the MIT even more threatening.
Having waffling all of this (sorry if you think so), our threat is not from the far-away-yet-so-close-on-line Islamic State, but rather, the local extremist terrorist groups that appear trying to undermine Indonesia’s heterogeneous nature with sectarian and interreligious atrocities. Indonesia’s experience with GAM, OPM, RMS, and DI might be revived with the potential reemergence of terrorist groups such as JI and MIT, the most lethal ones, but with more radical Islamic aspects.
As regular citizens in the grassroots level, what we need to do is raising awareness of plural, multi-religious Indonesia. Amongst the Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia is the most successful in integrating multicultural society (into acknowledging themselves as Indonesian), as well as managing Islam (since the emergence of IS, only hundreds go to join them). Our reputation as Islamic as well as democratic country has already been tainted by these terrorist groups and other intolerant groups domestically, such as FPI (although they are pro-government and pro democracy). But we have been successful in defining ourselves as Indonesians, a heterogeneous homogeneity. The government should work on equitable development across the country to pre-empt emergence of other radical groups, while we can keep our awareness on our identity as Indonesians.
Sources:
and some wikipedia for some data hehehehe
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