The Army chief of staff on Friday said the Indonesian Armed Forces would be using “soft power” to prevent the spread of the influence of the Indonesian Islamic State movement that has penetrated schools and campuses.
The group, also known as NII, aims to establish an Islamic caliphate by enlisting young, impressionable Indonesians. Former members have been linked to the foiled Good Friday bombing of a Tangerang church.
“We are going to use soft power, everything will be fought with education, not with violence,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta said.
“If our children are well educated, smart and earn enough income, they will not join the group,” he added.
He also said the armed forces, known as TNI, would support any regulation designed to fight the radical Islamic movement as long as they were in line with the prevailing rules and laws of the Republic of Indonesia.
“We have instructed our commanders at district levels to fully support the regulation,” he said.
Even though district heads had the full authority to fight against radicalism, he said they should coordinate with the military before implementing their decisions.
“We also want the people to participate in fighting against radicalization as their participation is very important in eradicating such groups,” he said.
Separately, the Education Ministry on Friday said that it would this year introduce school programs at all levels aimed at building moral character.
“As we have seen, radicalism has infiltrated the education world and this is a serious threat. We think that now we need to mainstream education based on a curriculum that would be integrated into all subjects,” said the ministry’s secretary general, Dodi Nandika.
“Students will learn that they need to implement values such as honesty, empathy and tolerance in their lives.”
Sukemi, an Education Ministry staffer, said that radical groups flourished due to the socio-economy gaps in society.
“That condition will allow intolerance to grow among the people, that is why education based on character is needed,” he said.
“We do not want Islamophobia to flourish in the country,” Sukemi added.
“Radical thoughts should be fought by academic thoughts. We need to open more space for discussions.”
The Army chief of staff on Friday said the Indonesian Armed Forces would be using “soft power” to prevent the spread of the influence of the Indonesian Islamic State movement that has penetrated schools and campuses.
The group, also known as NII, aims to establish an Islamic caliphate by enlisting young, impressionable Indonesians. Former members have been linked to the foiled Good Friday bombing of a Tangerang church.
“We are going to use soft power, everything will be fought with education, not with violence,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta said.
“If our children are well educated, smart and earn enough income, they will not join the group,” he added.
He also said the armed forces, known as TNI, would support any regulation designed to fight the radical Islamic movement as long as they were in line with the prevailing rules and laws of the Republic of Indonesia.
“We have instructed our commanders at district levels to fully support the regulation,” he said.
Even though district heads had the full authority to fight against radicalism, he said they should coordinate with the military before implementing their decisions.
“We also want the people to participate in fighting against radicalization as their participation is very important in eradicating such groups,” he said.
Separately, the Education Ministry on Friday said that it would this year introduce school programs at all levels aimed at building moral character.
“As we have seen, radicalism has infiltrated the education world and this is a serious threat. We think that now we need to mainstream education based on a curriculum that would be integrated into all subjects,” said the ministry’s secretary general, Dodi Nandika.
“Students will learn that they need to implement values such as honesty, empathy and tolerance in their lives.”
Sukemi, an Education Ministry staffer, said that radical groups flourished due to the socio-economy gaps in society.
“That condition will allow intolerance to grow among the people, that is why education based on character is needed,” he said.
“We do not want Islamophobia to flourish in the country,” Sukemi added.
“Radical thoughts should be fought by academic thoughts. We need to open more space for discussions.”
(I thought I'd heard it all, but this gets the cake! Fighting extremism with education= more sophisticated bombs= more educated/academicly qualified extremists who laugh themselves silly at the dumb statements coming from the people whom they oought to fear the most, and oh yeah, these are my thoughts, just incase they are going to bomb this actionforum after reading my comments
siK.)
x the JG)
zo 1 mei 2011 - 3:59