Extremism neither belongs to one religion nor one nation. It is a problem in big societies.
Combating terrorism and extremism as well as promoting the values of moderation is an international responsibility that requires effective cooperation and coordination among all countries around the world.
Social diversity in Indonesia becomes a challenge for the government in combating radical ideology.
Radical preachers often deliver messages of hate and violence.
With the growing threat of religious intolerance and radicalism, the Indonesian government is coordinating and developing coherent counterradicalization programs in order to revitalize national resilience against venomous radical ideology.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that a balanced approach between soft power and hard power is a powerful solution for the eradication of terrorism.
The statement was delivered during the G20 Leaders Retreat Session I Summit.
In addition to this, the deradicalization program for former terror actors, which were conducted in Indonesia, has helped reduce their intentions to do the same acts.
"History has taught us that military weapons and powers cannot eradicate terrorism, as negative ideologies can only be corrected with the right way of thinking. So, soft power approach in the form of deradicalization must continue," the president remarked.
Through a deradicalization program, only three out of the 560 former terrorist actors, or 0.53 percent, wished to indulge in terrorism.
Additionally, two of the largest Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, also play an important role in spreading peace and tolerant Islamic teachings.
In his speech, he also spoke about the incident in Marawi City, the Philippines, which is now controlled by the ISIS group and has forced people to flee.
"The Marawi case is a wake-up call for all of us that the ISIS network has now spread and affiliated with local terrorists," the President stressed.
Jokowi confirmed that trilateral negotiations between Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines, initiated by Indonesia, had been held.
In addition to this, ASEAN will also work with Australia to combat terrorism in the region.
The President also conveyed to the leaders of G20 member states that Indonesia was a plural country and the third largest democracy in the world.
Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
With its unique and strategic position, the President said Indonesia was committed to being part of the global effort to combat terrorism, as well as spreading peace and tolerance.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes Indonesia is a country that is capable of facing terrorism.
Hence, Turkey is keen to enhance partnership with Indonesia, as the country is facing major challenges in the form of terrorism and radicalism.
President Erdogan asserted that terrorism in any form must be resisted.
According to Erdogan, the objective of an organization, such as ISIS, is to destroy peace.
He added that several suspected terrorists in Syria will be deported to their countries of origin. Until now, Turkey has managed to neutralize three thousand ISIS terrorists.
President Erdogan also emphasized the importance of cooperation on the exchange of intelligence information.
In addition, BNPT's director of prevention Brigadier General Hamli said that seventy-two percent of people in Indonesia are against radicalism, considering it as disrupting peace of mind.
"7.7 percent of the people have accepted radicalism, while 0.4 percent had implemented it," he said.
The data was taken from the results of scientific research carried out by BNPT, in cooperation with a number of trusted research institutions. All elements must introspect it, he stated.
Efforts by parties wishing to spread terror in the country have already covered all aspects and dimensions of life, regardless of social status, religion, race, tribe, or education.
"Let alone universities, even senior or junior high schools and early-age educational institutes have been targeted as places for sowing hatred to create more terrorists in the future," he noted.
In view of that, he explained that BNPT had appealed to all Ministry of Education and education service institutions in the regions to assure that they have not been infiltrated by the ideology.
The head of the Southeast Sulawesi education service, Damsid, hailed the synergy with other institutions to prevent efforts by organizations seeking to spread radicalism.
"The education service is not a party that has the competence to state that someone or certain educational institution is affiliated to a radical group," he revealed.
He pointed out that his service, however, hailed the synergy with other parties, including BNPT, mass organizations, professional organizations, TNI (military), the police and others, to prevent and eradicate radicalism.
Cultural and religious social observer Azyumardi Azra said that radicalism in Indonesia is very unsuited to the cultural condition of the people.
The Indonesian nation put religion in a high position that is on the first principle contained in Pancasila.
By placing Pancasila as the nation's philosophy, it means that this nation recognizes and accepts the existence of religion as the main thing.
However, do not forget also that there are diversity values that are accommodated to foster a sense of unity and unity of the nation, all have been summarized in Pancasila.
Pancasila can be a solution to overcome radicalism if it is practiced, not written or spoken only.
Editor: Rustam Effendi
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA 2017
