Calls for Dissolution of NII Increasing

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Amid fears of increasing extremism, radicalism and bomb terrors, calls for dissolution of NII, a movement organization which has fought since the 1950s for the establishment of an Islamic State of Indonesia under a caliphate government, are now being aired by various quarters.

The calls for elimination of this organization among others came from former vice president Jusuf Kalla, Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah (the Indonesian second largest Muslim organization), legislators and other noted Muslim clerics.

The NII movement was founded in Java by Kartosuwiryo who had fought for an Islamic state since the 1950s. Since its movement ran counter to the Pancasila state ideology, NII was opposed by the government but its founder Kartosuwiryo waged a guerrilla warfare until he was captured and executed by the government in 1962.

Being considered a dangerous movement, NII was suppressed and eradicated by the government during the era of Soeharto. Now, the NII ideology is allegedly being disseminated again, leading to the emergence of radicalism in the country.

According to Haysim Muzadi, former chief of one of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), radicalism had now reached a dangerous level requiring serious handling by the government.

"It is not only threatening public security but also Islam and the state," Hasyim Muzadi said. It is more dangerous because they are driven by transnational political movements in other countries through hardline ideological channels.

Muzadi said the movement had recruited a lot of people from the innocent who were then made into militants to young intellectuals whose religious views had been distorted. The religious views of young intellectuals were distorted after they received brainwashing, among others by the NII.

Therefore, according to former vice president Jusuf Kalla, the government must immediately tackle the cases of brainwashing by the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement because the activity was dangerous.

"The government must act firmly against the activity. Anyone involved must be arrested so that it will not cause further unrest among the community," he said after a seminar here on Wednesday.

He said under the context of Unitary State of Indonesia radical movement like that was very dangerous for the continuity of statehood and nationhood. Besides arresting the perpetrators other concrete actions the government could take are seeking ways on how the government and the community fight ideas of those conducting brainwashing.